Special Current Affairs For SSC CGL Tier 1 Exam 2015

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Contents
NATIONAL ISSUES ...................................................................................... 1
Sahitya Akademi to publish satirical poem on Gandhi: Jnanpith winner ............................................................................. 1
Complete Tejpal trial in one year: SC ...................................................................................................................................... 1
India, China to set up hotline between Army HQs .................................................................................................................. 2
PMs visit to 18 countries in one year unprecedented: CPI(M) ........................................................................................... 2
Over 11,000 women to be recruited in central Security Forces .............................................................................................. 3
Mongolia gets $1-bn credit gift ................................................................................................................................................. 3
SC upholds validity of Company Law Tribunal ...................................................................................................................... 4
TV channels flout rules under garb of media freedom: activist .............................................................................................. 5
Dont judge a woman by her husbands past: SC .................................................................................................................... 6
Harman Singh is now a global hero .......................................................................................................................................... 6
SIT cites report of agency funded by Ford Foundation .......................................................................................................... 6
In coma for 42 years, Aruna Shanbaug dies ............................................................................................................................. 7
Clean Ganga project seeks corporate, NRI participation ....................................................................................................... 8
First tribal woman to be Jharkhand Governor ........................................................................................................................ 8
Kejriwal, L-G take fight to Rashtrapati Bhavan ..................................................................................................................... 9
Ahluwalia to head panel on land Bill ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Hungarian author awarded Man Booker International ........................................................................................................ 10
MEA rejects Geelanis application .......................................................................................................................................... 10
L-Gs silence vindicates our stand ........................................................................................................................................ 11
PMs Dhaka visit to yield road, port connectivity ................................................................................................................... 11
Parrikar pushes for Chief of Defence Staff ............................................................................................................................. 12
Four Indians among worlds 100 most powerful women ..................................................................................................... 12
India denies pressuring Swedish paper .................................................................................................................................. 13
Suggestions on land Bill welcome: Modi ................................................................................................................................ 13
Centre-AAP spat reaches Supreme Court .............................................................................................................................. 13
Pranab exposed Raja, Behura in 2G scam: Baijal ................................................................................................................. 14
Relief for Greenpeace, can operate 2 accounts ....................................................................................................................... 14
Germany still hopeful of selling Eurofighters to India .......................................................................................................... 14
India to set up IT listening posts in Bangladesh .................................................................................................................... 15
India tops world hunger list with 194 million people ............................................................................................................ 16
Mamata to join Modi on Bangla trip ...................................................................................................................................... 16
Kejriwal government claims unfettered right to run Delhi ................................................................................................... 16
No intention to run govt. through L-G: Rajnath ................................................................................................................... 17
P.K. Sinha appointed Cabinet Secretary ................................................................................................................................ 17
Singapore to host first International Yoga Day on June 21 ................................................................................................ 17
U.S. Defence Secretary coming ................................................................................................................................................ 18
PUCL plea in SC questions delay in implementation ............................................................................................................ 18
INS Vikrant undocking postponed .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Govt. for re-promulgation of land ordinance ......................................................................................................................... 19
Ex-Odisha CM Gamang quits Congress ................................................................................................................................ 19
U.P. sues Nestle for excess lead in Maggi ................................................................................................................................ 20
Modi to be first Indian PM in Israel ....................................................................................................................................... 20
Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala bus trial run ................................................................................................................................... 20
Pranab in Sweden, key pacts to be signed .............................................................................................................................. 20
Corporates ignore Clean School call ....................................................................................................................................... 21
Karnataka to move SC in Jaya case ........................................................................................................................................ 21
Vijai Sharma tipped to be new CIC ........................................................................................................................................ 22
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Bollywood actors land in a soup for endorsing Maggi ..........................................................................................................

Gujarat officers to be commerce, power secretaries ..............................................................................................................
I&B Ministry asked to review DD News heads appointment ..............................................................................................
Oppn. members may quit House panel on Land Bill .............................................................................................................
E-visa for Swedish nationals soon: Pranab ............................................................................................................................
Knowledge network to be open to all SAARC nations ..........................................................................................................
Law unclear if celebrities endorsing food products can be prosecuted ................................................................................
BSF may take over security along India-Myanmar border ..................................................................................................
Code of conduct is in place, focus on LAC clarification, Beijing told ..................................................................................
L-G appoints new ACB chief ...................................................................................................................................................
HRD Ministry under fire for choice of Urdu Council head ..................................................................................................
Chowdary is new CVC; Vijai Singh new CIC .......................................................................................................................
Queen, Haider triumphant at IIFA awards ............................................................................................................................
Licences of 4,470 NGOs cancelled ...........................................................................................................................................
Railways remove chains to speed up trains ............................................................................................................................
Railways to stagger Tatkal booking ........................................................................................................................................
Ex-servicemen to continue nationwide protests over OROP delay .......................................................................................
India Inc. CEOs sing for a cause .............................................................................................................................................
Foreign Airlines Come Under Sexual Harassment Act: Delhi HC .......................................................................................
Union Government extended prepaid mobile service for two years in J&K, North-East ..................................................
Committee sets up by EC to allow migrants to vote ..............................................................................................................
MHA Renamed Visa Scheme ...................................................................................................................................................
Indias first of Scorpene Submarines-Kalvari Undocked ...................................................................................................
Vivid Bharti now on FM ..........................................................................................................................................................
BHEL commissioned 600 MW Thermal Unit in Chhattisgarh .............................................................................................
National Judicial Appointments Commission comes into force ............................................................................................
Century Old Indian Sculpture to Fly Back Home .................................................................................................................
TRAI recommends 112 as single emergency number for India ............................................................................................
India Successfully Test Fired Nuclear-Capable Agni-III Ballistic Missile ...........................................................................
Vice President Releases a Book India and the World Through the Eyes of Indian Diplomats ......................................
MHA Suspends Registration of Greenpeace ..........................................................................................................................
India Successfully Test Fired Dhanush Missile ......................................................................................................................
MHA Issues Revise Norms for Disaster Relief .......................................................................................................................
Union Cabinet Approves Amendment to Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013 .......................................
Navy Launches Stealth Destroyer INS Visakhapatnam ........................................................................................................
Kerala Government Launches Subodham Project to end alcohol abuse .............................................................................
Rajasthan Government Made Amendments in PRI ..............................................................................................................
International Paralympic Committee suspends PCI .............................................................................................................
Operation Rahat: Indian Navy Efforts to Evacuate Indians from Yemen ...........................................................................
4th LCU of Mk IV Project Launched .....................................................................................................................................
OIL Commissions 54 MW Commercial Wind Energy Project in Gujarat & Madhya Pradesh .........................................
RINL Builds 120 MW Pollution Free Captive Power Plant .............................................................................................
Govt Amends Norms For Financial Support to PPP in Infra ...............................................................................................
Amendments Approved ............................................................................................................................................................
Gujarat Government Passes GUJCO Bill 2015 .....................................................................................................................
Himachal Pradesh Government Launched Indias First E-Vidhan Mobile Apps ...............................................................
Delhi Governemnt Bans All For Chewable Tobacco ..............................................................................................................
Rajasthan Government Passes Camel Slaughter Bill ............................................................................................................
Delhi Government Launches e-Ration Card Service .............................................................................................................
Railway Ministry Constitutes a Committee to Review PPP cell in Railway ........................................................................
Central Govt Constitutes a Committee to Work out Single Framework for Govt Clearances ...........................................
PM Launches PRAGATI Platform for Redressal of Grievances ..........................................................................................
Union Government Launches Twitter Samvad ......................................................................................................................
Section 66A of the IT Act is Unconstitutional: SC .................................................................................................................
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Asias Largest Tulip Garden Thrown Open for Public .........................................................................................................

Orissa Government Launches Aahar Scheme ........................................................................................................................
Amravati to be New Capital of Andhra Pradesh ...................................................................................................................
Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers Constituted ..................................................................................................................
National Water Development Agency .....................................................................................................................................
PwC man Involved in Spying: CBI ........................................................................................................................................
SC gives one last chance to Sahara ........................................................................................................................................
Haryana set to Ban Cow Slaughter .......................................................................................................................................
You sat on Rape videos, SC tells Home Ministry ..................................................................................................................
MHA tells States, UTs not to use national flag made of plastic .............................................................................................
Process on to implement One Rank One Pension scheme .....................................................................................................
Law panel bats for stronger EC ..............................................................................................................................................
Govt. rethinking strategy on Land Bill ...................................................................................................................................
Ban on airing Indias Daughter to Continue .........................................................................................................................
Make paid news a poll offence: Law panel ............................................................................................................................
Citizen ID systems tend to exclude marginalised: WB ..........................................................................................................
NGO seeks CBI, ED probe into Aditya Birla group ..............................................................................................................
SC upholds life term in Manjunath murder case ...................................................................................................................
RTI Act applies to A-Gs office .............................................................................................................................................
Land Bill Clears Lok Sabha hurdle .......................................................................................................................................
SC unhappy with fund use for Taj zone green project ..........................................................................................................
Mumbai to come under CCTV surveillance, says Governor .................................................................................................
World War I Commemorations begin ....................................................................................................................................
Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu top in girls education .................................................................................................................
Nagaland submits report on lynching .....................................................................................................................................
Ruskin Bond lends a hand to Swachh Bharat campaign ......................................................................................................
Indias Daughter documentary: HC refuses urgent hearing on PIL to lift ban ................................................................
Worlds first Solar-powered Aircraft .....................................................................................................................................
As tensions rise, Assam on alert to Protect Nagas .................................................................................................................
Mufti orders Release of political prisoners ...........................................................................................................................
Nirbhaya film: Bar council issues notice to defence lawyers ................................................................................................
New Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route by June ......................................................................................................................
Activists continue bid to post Indias Daughter on the Web .................................................................................................
Ex-editor of RSS organ replaces NBT Chairman ..................................................................................................................
Centre to amend RBI Act to set up monetary policy panel ...................................................................................................
Nanditha Krishna, M.D. Srinivas in ICHR ............................................................................................................................
PDP gets 10 Cabinet berths, BJP six .....................................................................................................................................
Pakistani singer Adnan Sami applies for Indian citizenship .................................................................................................
Nai Manzil to bridge lack of skills in minorities ....................................................................................................................
Vistara to have fleet size of 20 aircraft by 2018 .....................................................................................................................
E-commerce transactions on aggregator platforms turn costly ..........................................................................................
States will have More spending Freedom: CEA ...................................................................................................................
SC moved for CBI probe into Essar leaks ..............................................................................................................................
Liberalise FDI in retail for farm sector: Survey ....................................................................................................................
SCO: Russia to push for Indias full membership .................................................................................................................
Govt. digs in heels on land ordinance .....................................................................................................................................
President clears Amitava Roys elevation as SC judge ..........................................................................................................
Bureaucrats reshuffled .............................................................................................................................................................
Irom Sharmila gets Sthree Shakti award ................................................................................................................................
Section 66A a necessary deterrent, says government .............................................................................................................
Panel against trying juveniles as adults ..................................................................................................................................
Under pressure, government agrees to consult all parties .....................................................................................................
Swachh Bharat, food subsidy need huge funds ......................................................................................................................
Harvard researcher offers free online legal research tool for students ................................................................................
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India, Russia sort out differences on fighter jet project ........................................................................................................

Modi suit fetches Rs. 4.31-cr in auction ..................................................................................................................................
China protests PMs Arunachal visit .....................................................................................................................................
Centre defends pictures of politicians in ads ..........................................................................................................................
Amartya Sen to Leave Nalanda Post ......................................................................................................................................
Defence at the heart of Make in India ...............................................................................................................................
Legendary filmmaker Ramanaidu is no more ........................................................................................................................
BJP, PDP propose phased withdrawal of AFSPA ..................................................................................................................
Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study ....................................................................................................
Coastal security is a challenge says R.K. Dhowan .................................................................................................................
NFIR opposes FDI in Railways ...............................................................................................................................................
World Ramayana Conference in Bengaluru .........................................................................................................................
NGOs oppose panel report on environmental laws ................................................................................................................
U.S Secretary calls for greater Indo-US economic ties ..........................................................................................................
India can lead smart growth says Ban Ki Moon ....................................................................................................................
FM expects GST to take effect in 2016 ..................................................................................................................................
CJIs remarks on PM inappropriate says Fali S. Nariman ...................................................................................................
Janata Parivar merger to be formalised soon ......................................................................................................................
SC asks government for update on Ganga clean-up projects .............................................................................................
SC asks government for update on Ganga clean-up projects .............................................................................................
Government allows direct sale of bio-diesel by manufacturers .............................................................................................
Sri Lankas new govt. to start ties with India on a clean slate ...........................................................................................
Union Cabinet clears FM radio channels auctions ................................................................................................................
GAIL pipeline Catches fire in Delhi .......................................................................................................................................
IITs, IIMs to roll out free online courses ...............................................................................................................................
Literature Festival to showcase Rajasthans heritage ...........................................................................................................
Pahlaj Nihalani is Censor board chief ...................................................................................................................................
Rajni Kothari was the first to foresee caste factor ................................................................................................................
Haryanas decision to reduce retirement age to 58 upheld ....................................................................................................
1-crore award for villages attaining balanced sex ratio ........................................................................................................
Periyar Tiger Reserve wins NTCA award ..............................................................................................................................
e-auction of 46 coal blocks to begin .........................................................................................................................................
Cabinet panel plans strategy to legislate ordinances .............................................................................................................
New Chief Justice for J&K High Court ................................................................................................................................
Jhumpa Lahiri wins DSC Prize for 2015 ...............................................................................................................................
A simple Device to curb female foeticide ...............................................................................................................................
Crocodile project at Sunderbans gets a boost with expert assistance ..................................................................................
In a break with protocol, PM receives Obama at airport .....................................................................................................
No changes to civil liability law, says Sujatha Singh .............................................................................................................
R K Laxman Passes Away .......................................................................................................................................................
Two Harappan sites being excavated .....................................................................................................................................
Murthy and kin donate 200,000 for Gandhi statue .............................................................................................................
Jaishankars appointment comes in a twist ............................................................................................................................
Debates show why Preambles original text left out the two words .....................................................................................
Remove ads on pre-natal sex selection: SC ............................................................................................................................
Shekhar Sen is Sangeet Natak Akademi chairman ................................................................................................................
Gorkhaland movement leader Subhash Ghisingh dead ........................................................................................................
Human rights group slams Indias record ..............................................................................................................................
Govt. effects major reshuffle of Secretaries ...........................................................................................................................
Law Commission moots special commercial courts ...............................................................................................................
Dilip Kumar gets lifetime achievement award .......................................................................................................................
Make Moral Science must in schools: plea .............................................................................................................................
Russia, China back Indias inclusion in expanded APEC .....................................................................................................
Right to religion not above public morality: SC ....................................................................................................................
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Punjab Colleges to be tobacco-free ......................................................................................................................................... 92

Cannot close doors to Telanganas plea on Krishna water disputes says SC .................................................................... 92
SC directed to complete Prosecution of account holders by March 31 ................................................................................ 93
India a moderate-performing country: report ....................................................................................................................... 93
N. Srinivasan must keep off BCCI meetings: SC ................................................................................................................... 93
RS agree for 49% FDI in insurance ........................................................................................................................................ 93
Modi talked with Putin, discussed defence, energy ............................................................................................................... 94
RS finalised its Draft report on Insurance Bill ...................................................................................................................... 94
States rejected Centres GST Bill ............................................................................................................................................ 94
NGT stays MoEF clearance for phase 1 of mini-hydel project ............................................................................................. 95
Better to Make in India primarily for India: Raghuram Rajan ......................................................................................... 95
Govt. introduced Bill in LS to amend companies law ............................................................................................................ 96
Lok Sabha passes coal mines bill, 2014 ................................................................................................................................... 96
Electricity amendment Bill focuses on renewable Energy .................................................................................................... 96
Government pushes historic GST tax reform ........................................................................................................................ 97
State Cabinet approved draft CRDA Bill ............................................................................................................................... 97
New maritime policy in a month says N. C. Naidu ................................................................................................................ 97
India successfully test fires GSLV Mark-III .......................................................................................................................... 98
States to get relief on GST Bill ................................................................................................................................................ 98
Ancient university near Nalanda was founded during Kushan Period ................................................................................ 99
India is third on black money list says report ........................................................................................................................ 99
Telangana decided to declare Dec.26 as public holiday ......................................................................................................... 99
Govt. employees under Lokpal Act have to disclose deposits in foreign banks .................................................................... 99
15 States ratified the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill ............................................................................ 100
Committee set up to make suggestions on amendments to 2006 Act .................................................................................. 100
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES ..................................................................... 102

Luxembourg PM is the first gay EU leader to marry .......................................................................................................... 102
Kerry in South Korea to talk security, cyber issues ............................................................................................................ 102
Xi says U.S.-China relations are stable ................................................................................................................................. 103
German spy agency helped U.S. find Osama: report ........................................................................................................... 104
French feminists say Rights of Man declaration is sexist ................................................................................................. 104
Situation in ancient city of Palmyra under control: Syria .................................................................................................. 105
Blair resigns as West Asia envoy ........................................................................................................................................... 106
Bangladesh ratifies boundary pact protocol ........................................................................................................................ 106
Washington Post reporters trial begins ............................................................................................................................... 106
Work permit for H-4 visa holders ......................................................................................................................................... 106
Dhaka plans to relocate Rohingya ........................................................................................................................................ 107
Colombo still reluctant to demilitarise in North and East ................................................................................................... 107
Cameron urges flexible and imaginative EU reforms ....................................................................................................... 108
Bangladesh Liberation War award for Vajpayee ................................................................................................................. 108
Families of IDPs to receive resettlement allowance ............................................................................................................. 109
Israel brands boycott movement a strategic threat ............................................................................................................ 109
China blamed for massive U.S. data breach .......................................................................................................................... 110
Thousands clash with police against G7 summit in Germany ............................................................................................. 110
Sri Lankan Cabinet clears new electoral system .................................................................................................................. 111
Nepal parties reach long-awaited deal ................................................................................................................................... 111
Modi invited for Nepal donor meet ........................................................................................................................................ 112
McDonalds, Twitter declare support for same-sex marriage .............................................................................................. 112
Colombo to launch scheme for widows .................................................................................................................................. 113
China Releases Details of Silk Road Plans ............................................................................................................................ 113
Finland Opposition Party Wins Parliamentary Election ..................................................................................................... 114
Saudi Arabia along with GCC Launches Military Campaign Against Houthi .................................................................. 114
Pakistan and Russia to Hold Joint Military Exercise ........................................................................................................... 114
Philippine and U. S. Begins Military Exercise ...................................................................................................................... 115

India Joins Group of War Against Terrorism ....................................................................................................................... 115
Key Facts about Group of Friends Against Terrorism ..................................................................................................... 116
Palestinian Becomes 123 Member of International Criminal Court ................................................................................... 116
About International Criminal Court ..................................................................................................................................... 116
Amnesty International Reports on Death Sentences in 2014 ............................................................................................... 117
Israel Develops Anti-Ballistic Missile- Davids Sling ............................................................................................................ 117
UNCTAD Reporton e-Commerce Biz .................................................................................................................................... 118
Global e-commerce is expanding and evolving ..................................................................................................................... 118
Greater opportunities for developing countries to engage in e-commerce .......................................................................... 119
Unlocking the e-commerce potential requires national and international policy responses .............................................. 119
Democracy jailed for 13 years: Nasheeds party ................................................................................................................... 119
Modi calls for implementation of 13th Amendment in full .................................................................................................. 120
Japan, France sign pact ......................................................................................................................................................... 121
Allow us to visit India: panel on religious freedom.............................................................................................................. 121
Iceland withdraws its bid to join the EU .............................................................................................................................. 121
Rushdie to join journalism faculty of NY university ........................................................................................................... 122
Time to replace 13th Amendment with a more dynamic system ...................................................................................... 122
Pakistan lifts death penalty moratorium for all cases .......................................................................................................... 123
ICC hands over Bashir case to U.N. ..................................................................................................................................... 123
More U.S. sanctions on Venezuela ......................................................................................................................................... 123
Sri Lanka may review Tata housing project ......................................................................................................................... 123
India is not a country of rapists: German envoy to discriminating German professor .................................................... 124
Israel will not cede land to Palestinians: Netanyahu ........................................................................................................... 124
Pollution control: China sends mixed signals ....................................................................................................................... 124
Modi to unveil plaque of Jaffna cultural centre ................................................................................................................... 125
Motion in Commons on Gandhijis statue ............................................................................................................................ 126
Outrage as IS destroys ancient site ....................................................................................................................................... 126
Maldives internal issues might have led to cancellation of Modi trip ............................................................................... 126
Colombo will work in cooperation with U.N. .................................................................................................................... 127
Google Maps goes trekking in Amazon .............................................................................................................................. 127
Writers body donated for research ...................................................................................................................................... 128
Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia to trial new flight tracking system .................................................................................... 128
The Tablet set to celebrate 175th year of continuous publication ....................................................................................... 129
China formally backs trilateral partnership with India, Sri Lanka ................................................................................... 129
Writer hacked to Death in Dhaka ......................................................................................................................................... 130
Iraq statue-smashing video sparks outrage .......................................................................................................................... 130
Chinas draft anti-terrorism law high on privacy and human rights ................................................................................. 131
Britain misses targets on immigration control ..................................................................................................................... 131
Death toll from Afghan avalanches crosses 200 ................................................................................................................... 132
U.K. mulls proposal to raise new Sikh regiment .................................................................................................................. 132
Iranian wins award for giving voice to the voiceless ......................................................................................................... 132
Draft Accord Reached, says Greece ...................................................................................................................................... 133
India-Israel ties out in the open, says Yaalon ...................................................................................................................... 133
Second film festival in Saudi Arabia ..................................................................................................................................... 133
U.S.-based news portal Mashable to foray into Indian market .......................................................................................... 134
Chinas Silk Road fund becomes operational .................................................................................................................... 134
China opens largest embassy in Pak ................................................................................................................................... 135
John Kerry heads for India to attend Vibrant Gujarat Summit ...................................................................................... 135
Sri Lankas new government to probe Rajapaksas coup bid .......................................................................................... 135
Taiwan confirmed the H5N8 strain of bird flu ..................................................................................................................... 136
Emerging economies must help combat climate change: U.N. Chief .................................................................................. 136
India-U.S. to Jointly fight cancer & Ebola ........................................................................................................................... 137
Leading U.K. papers reproduce survivors issue cover ................................................................................................... 137
Japan approves its largest defence budget ...........................................................................................................................

Global economy to expand by 3% in 2015 ...........................................................................................................................
U.S. think tank flags readiness of Pak nuclear weapons .....................................................................................................
Ordinance makes gender-neutral restrooms compulsory ..................................................................................................
Cuba, U.S. open historic talks ...............................................................................................................................................
Kerry issued summons in rights group move against RSS ..................................................................................................
Salman is new Ruler of Saudi Arabia ...................................................................................................................................
Thai ex-Premier Yingluck impeached ...................................................................................................................................
Church of England: First woman Bishop consecrated ........................................................................................................
WikiLeaks accuses Google of handing over e-mails to U.S. ................................................................................................
Impeached Sri Lankan Chief Justice reinstated ..................................................................................................................
Annual Abortion rate doubles in Pak. ..................................................................................................................................
New China-Myanmar oil pipeline bypasses Malacca trap ..................................................................................................
Italy: Sicilian judge elected President ...................................................................................................................................
Nepal committee passes Guidelines for Constitution ...........................................................................................................
U.N. agency says 2014 was warmest year on record ...........................................................................................................
Jordan executes two Jihadists after Islamic State murders pilot ........................................................................................
Philippines braces for powerful typhoon Hagupit ............................................................................................................
Japans economy likely shrank less than expected in Q3 ....................................................................................................
FBI warns U.S. of Destructive cyber attack .......................................................................................................................
2014 could be hottest year on record says WMO .................................................................................................................
Pak PM inaugurates China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project ..................................................................................
US passes bill to use of military force against ISIS ..............................................................................................................
Worlds first handcrafted herbal Holy Koran unveiled in Dubai .......................................................................................
After Bullet trains success, China wants to develop world class nuclear technology ......................................................
FIFA, Ebola among Facebooks most discussed topics in 2014 ...........................................................................................
Cadila healthcare launches first cheaper copy of worlds top-selling drug .......................................................................
China setting the stage for Silk Road Extension ..................................................................................................................
Foreign office building in Australia evacuated over suspicious package ...........................................................................
Japanese auto Honda set for record car sales in 2014 .........................................................................................................
Reliance seeks immediate start of KG-D6 cost recovery dispute ........................................................................................
SpiceJet submits a revival plan to govt. ................................................................................................................................
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INDIA & THE WORLD ............................................................................ 151

Bangladesh Government Approves Trade Deal with India .................................................................................................
PM Modi Visits to France ......................................................................................................................................................
India Contributes US $ 100,000 to The International Trade Centre Trust Fund ..............................................................
India Elected to Four Key Bodies of UN ..............................................................................................................................
US and India Sign MoC on Transportation .........................................................................................................................
India and Qatar Sign Six Agreements ..................................................................................................................................
India and Japan sign Rs 1800 cr Loan for Rengali Irrigation Project ...............................................................................
Bangladesh Government Approves Trade Deal with India .................................................................................................
PM Modi Visits to France ......................................................................................................................................................
India Contributes US $ 100,000 to The International Trade Centre Trust Fund ..............................................................
India Elected to Four Key Bodies of UN ..............................................................................................................................
Four Key Bodies are ..............................................................................................................................................................
US and India Sign MoC on Transportation .........................................................................................................................
India and Qatar Sign Six Agreements ..................................................................................................................................
List of Agreements /MoUs signed between Both Nations ....................................................................................................
India and Japan sign Rs 1800 cr Loan for Rengali Irrigation Project ...............................................................................
India & Sri Lanka Signs four Agreement ............................................................................................................................
India to Develop Infrastrucre in Mauritius and Seychelles ................................................................................................
India signs security Coperation pact with Mauritius ..........................................................................................................
India and Spain Signs a defence Deal ..................................................................................................................................
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India & Kyrgyzstan signs MoU on Cooperation in textile sector .......................................................................................

India and Nepal joint militaryexercise Surya Kiran VIII concludes ..................................................................................
Kathmandu-Varanasi Bus Service Flagged off ....................................................................................................................
India & US held dialogue on United Nation .........................................................................................................................
India is worlds second most trusting nation: Survey ..........................................................................................................
Vision statement on Asia-Pacific, Indian Ocean ...................................................................................................................
Germany eager to join Make in India initiative ................................................................................................................
Obama, Modi at India US CEO Forum................................................................................................................................
PIA closure will snap vital link between India, Pakistan ....................................................................................................
India signs up for a Multi-crore Project ...............................................................................................................................
India and France agreed to fast-track Rafale deal ..............................................................................................................
India very important player in climate talks says the US ...............................................................................................
India advocates balanced approach to cut global carbon Emissions ................................................................................
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ECONOMY ................................................................................................. 169

At U.N. India may end support to Palestine .........................................................................................................................
Home Ministry may not give licence to Sun TV firms .........................................................................................................
HDFC Bank, Apollo Hospitals join hands ............................................................................................................................
Emerson Process buys Ameya Transmissions ......................................................................................................................
Tata launches GenX Nano .....................................................................................................................................................
Govt may do away with mandatory RBI approval for FDI ................................................................................................
SEBI notifies norms for MFs managing offshore money ....................................................................................................
Bachchans invest in Ziddu.com .............................................................................................................................................
Norms eased for investments by NRIs, PIOs, OCIs .............................................................................................................
Suresh Prabhu keen on putting PPP model on track ...........................................................................................................
RBI plans to introduce PPI for mass transport system .......................................................................................................
BusinessLine launches website for B-schoolers ...................................................................................................................
Bharat Electronics develops phones for Army use ...............................................................................................................
Adani, Reliance sign deals for power generation in Bangladesh ........................................................................................
TCS, Infosys to face probe on visa violation ........................................................................................................................
Yahoo to host developer meet in India ..................................................................................................................................
SBI chief anticipates repo rate cut ........................................................................................................................................
Cairn India set to merge into Vedanta in $2.3 billion deal ..................................................................................................
BHEL & INTMA Ink MoU to set Up Power Plant in Kazakhstan ....................................................................................
Nokia to Acquire Alcate-Lucent ............................................................................................................................................
MUDRA Bank Scheme ..........................................................................................................................................................
Dena Bank & LIC sign MoU to Provide Insurance Cover .................................................................................................
RBI Lowers Ceiling Rate .......................................................................................................................................................
RBI Tightens Takeover Norms for Shadow Banking ..........................................................................................................
India to Surpass Chinas Economic Growth in 2015-16: IMF ...........................................................................................
NCTI inks MoU with Paytm to Promote MSME ................................................................................................................
Snapdeal Acquires FreeCharge .............................................................................................................................................
Union Government Approves Ten FDI Approval .................................................................................................................
RuPay Card Holders of all PSBs Enable on eComm ...........................................................................................................
Union Government Fetched Rs. 1.10 Lakh crores ...............................................................................................................
RBI Signs $400 m Currency Swap Deal with Sri Lanka ....................................................................................................
All 56 Regional Rural Bank (RRBs) on RuPay Card & NACH System ............................................................................
IRCTC launches RuPay Prepaid Debit Card Service .........................................................................................................
SEBI Set Norms to Govern International Financial Market ..............................................................................................
Union Government Approves 17 Mega Food Park ..............................................................................................................
About Mega Food Park scheme ............................................................................................................................................
Good response for residential properties at SBIs e-auction ...............................................................................................
Facebook buys The Find ........................................................................................................................................................
Britain applies to join Chinese-led Asian bank ....................................................................................................................
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Work on GST rollout on track, says Shaktikanta Das .........................................................................................................

LIC to invest Rs.1.50 lakh crore in Railways .......................................................................................................................
RBI issues new norms for sale of bad loans .........................................................................................................................
IMF raises India growth forecast to 7.2 % this fiscal ..........................................................................................................
RIL heads the list of top 10 asset firms .................................................................................................................................
Black money taxable at highest rates ....................................................................................................................................
Govt working to wrest Khadi trademark from German firm .............................................................................................
Shiv Nadar Foundation sells shares in HCL Technologies ..................................................................................................
Industrialist Deepak Khaitan passes away ...........................................................................................................................
News Corp acquires VCCircle Network ...............................................................................................................................
Walmart India appoints Ashwin Mittal as CFO ..................................................................................................................
Apple to join Dow blue-chip index .......................................................................................................................................
No tax on premature withdrawal of private PF below Rs. 30,000 ......................................................................................
NPCI links 15 cr bank accounts with Aadhaar ....................................................................................................................
TRAI asks Vodafone to stop using 111 service .....................................................................................................................
Financial sector set on a path towards innovation ...............................................................................................................
Full electrification by 2022 ....................................................................................................................................................
Changes in corporate tax regime to reduce disputes: Jaitley ..............................................................................................
Nirbhaya fund Gets Rs. 1,000 crore .....................................................................................................................................
4-D solution for banking industry .........................................................................................................................................
Highlights of Union Budget 2015 ..........................................................................................................................................
Budget 2015 : Glossary of terms used in Budget .................................................................................................................
Fiscal Consolidation ...............................................................................................................................................................
White Paper outlines challenges of Railways .......................................................................................................................
Highlights of Railway Budget 2015 ......................................................................................................................................
SEBI slaps Rs.86 cr penalty on DLF ...................................................................................................................................
Cabinet approves agreement on BRICS development bank ...............................................................................................
CommonFloor launches new solution ..................................................................................................................................
Industrialist Bhadrashyam Kothari passes away ................................................................................................................
Rajan warns against Appellate Raj ...................................................................................................................................
New accounting standard rules notified ..............................................................................................................................
Videocon launches Wi-Fi enabled ACs .................................................................................................................................
Godrej Properties joins hands with Snapdeal ......................................................................................................................
Snapdeal buys fashion portal Exclusively.com ....................................................................................................................
Hyundai launches new Verna ................................................................................................................................................
Aero India 2015 to focus on Make in India .......................................................................................................................
SEBI plans profiling of major investors to boost surveillance ............................................................................................
Mallya resigns from Mangalore Chemicals Board (MCFL) ...............................................................................................
Reliance Industries signs agreement with Mexican company for oil and gas ....................................................................
Govt. relaxed FDI policy for investors in construction sector ............................................................................................
RBI comfortable on Current Account Deficit: Khan ...........................................................................................................
RBI keeps policy rates unchanged ........................................................................................................................................
Shome panel: Tax cash withdrawal beyond limit in a day ..................................................................................................
Lower oil prices will boost global economy: Christine Lagarde .........................................................................................
53% of Indians connected to internet every hour, beat global average ..............................................................................
OnePlus expects India will be its biggest market in next few months ................................................................................
More steps to rationalise subsidies: Jaitley ..........................................................................................................................
Indias manufacturing & services growth outpaced China in November: HSBC survey .................................................
RBI has retained growth estimate at 5.5% for 2014-15 ......................................................................................................
IBM signs multi-billion deal with ABN Amro ......................................................................................................................
SEBI (research analysts) norms to be effective from Dec. 1 ................................................................................................
Kisan Vikas Patra, re-launch with very few justifications ..................................................................................................
Petroleum product prices headed for further correction .....................................................................................................
Dubai will invest $32-billion to build worlds largest Airport ............................................................................................
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Switzerland rejected plans to hoard gold, limit immigration .............................................................................................. 210

RIL to transfer textile business to new Joint Venture with Chinese company ................................................................... 211
Essar group set to ink a deal to import crude from Russia .................................................................................................. 211
India is on growth track: IMF .............................................................................................................................................. 212
PSBs can issue equity with differential voting rights: Arundhati Bhattacharya ............................................................... 212
Civilised tax regime to attract investors: Jaitly ................................................................................................................. 213
India likely to improve economic growth in 2016: UN ........................................................................................................ 213
Inflation declined to 4.38% in November ............................................................................................................................. 213
Industrial production measured by IIP contracts by 4.2% in October .............................................................................. 213
TCS targets to exceed 55,000 hiring this fiscal .................................................................................................................... 214
Switzerlands gold exports to India marked near Rs. 1 trillion in 2014 ............................................................................. 214
Incentivise domestic savings to boost economy: RBI Chief ................................................................................................. 215
SpiceJet officials meeting the DGCA .................................................................................................................................... 215
CII demanded clarity and stability in tax policy ................................................................................................................. 216
Global demand for OPEC crude in 2015 will be less ........................................................................................................... 216
WTO rules against the U.S. in steel dispute with India ....................................................................................................... 217
India sees clear pick-up in growth momentum says OECD .............................................................................................. 217
Reliance Group sells multiplex business to Carnival ........................................................................................................... 217
Mid-Year Economic Review projects 5.5% growth: Jaitley ............................................................................................... 218
SpiceJet is all to change hands .............................................................................................................................................. 218
GreenDust.com planning to expend global presence ........................................................................................................... 219
GoAir offers discount on fares, lowest at Rs 1,469 for travel next year ............................................................................. 219
SEBI barred 260 entities for suspected money laundering ................................................................................................. 219
Petroleum products brought under GST .............................................................................................................................. 220
SEBI makes fresh bid to find Sahara investors ................................................................................................................. 220
Existing account enough to avail Jan Dhan benefits: govt. .............................................................................................. 221
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY .................................................................. 222

New treatment for diabetes in offing: study .........................................................................................................................
Military modernisation picks up pace ..................................................................................................................................
Google help for NGOs working on child safety ...................................................................................................................
Indias eye on universe ready for tests ..................................................................................................................................
Indian Ocean warms as Pacific cools ....................................................................................................................................
80 % Indian diets are protein deficient: Survey ..................................................................................................................
Maruti to bring in new green technologies to cut emissions ...............................................................................................
Stempeutics gets Japanese process patent for stem cell drug ..............................................................................................
INS Vikrant undocked at Cochin shipyard ..........................................................................................................................
60-member team to probe Eastern Star sinking ................................................................................................................
Smart cities scheme to take off on June 25 ...........................................................................................................................
Global M&E Industry: India leads digital drive .................................................................................................................
Ideas that make life easy, on show at IIT-Bombay ...............................................................................................................
PSLV-C27 Successfully Launches Indias Fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS-1D ...........................................................
Researchers Discovers Rare Huntsman and Jumping Spider in the Western Ghats ........................................................
Union Government Give its nod to build AWACS ...............................................................................................................
9th Edition of Earth Hour .....................................................................................................................................................
Indias First Remotely Operated Vehicle Operationalises in Atlantic ................................................................................
World Health Day-Vector Borne diseases .............................................................................................................................
ISRO Develop Flood Hazard Atlas .......................................................................................................................................
UNCTAD e-Waste Report 2014 ............................................................................................................................................
Newly Discovered Spices Named After Telangana ...............................................................................................................
INS Alleppey decommissioned ...............................................................................................................................................
ISROs launcher assembly unit gets Rs. 120 crore ..............................................................................................................
NASA launches 4 spacecraft to solve magnetic mystery ......................................................................................................
Malaria: people with blood group A more vulnerable to severe disease ............................................................................
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Oldest primitive animal fossil found in China ......................................................................................................................

Natco to launch Hepatitis C drug in India soon ...................................................................................................................
India can shape the future of Internet, says ICANN chief ..................................................................................................
Google may jump into virtual reality race ............................................................................................................................
MH370 report: Air Traffic Control supervisor was sleeping on duty ................................................................................
247 drug store in three months ...........................................................................................................................................
Census records increase in wildlife at Point Calimere .........................................................................................................
Lessons learnt as hunt for MH370 marks one year .............................................................................................................
Microsoft unveils Lumia 640, 640 XL ...................................................................................................................................
Air Force to get 38 more Pilatus basic trainers ....................................................................................................................
Govt. staff barred from using private e-mail for official purposes .....................................................................................
Russia plans its own space station .........................................................................................................................................
Too many waiting for blood stem cell transplants: Study ...................................................................................................
Indias own GPS soon ............................................................................................................................................................
Spacewalk on ISS completed .................................................................................................................................................
Babies made from skin may be boon for same sex couples ..................................................................................................
A new weapon in the fight against malaria ..........................................................................................................................
Countrys highest zoo attempts to save high altitude herbivores ........................................................................................
4th navigation satellite launch in March 2015 .....................................................................................................................
TB rate going down, but not fast enough to meet WHO target ..........................................................................................
Deficient southwest monsoon hits Rabi sowing ....................................................................................................................
Almonds could Reduce belly fat, Study Found ...................................................................................................................
Common factors in divergent habitats of migratory birds, Studies found .........................................................................
Indian vaccine Meningitis will protect infants .....................................................................................................................
New dolphin-like creature identified near Scotland: scientists ...........................................................................................
Playing music benefits the brain: research ...........................................................................................................................
Researchers identified Mutations causing abnormal heart muscle protein .......................................................................
Polar bear clusters migrate to Northwest Passages for longer lasting ice .........................................................................
Indias Mars Orbiter team wins award .............................................................................................................................
Playing music benefits the brain: research ...........................................................................................................................
Britains Beagle 2 spacecraft found on Mars ...................................................................................................................
2014 Earths hottest year on record: scientists ....................................................................................................................
Parrikar hands over LCA SP-1 to Air Force ........................................................................................................................
Agni-V missile to be test-fired on January 31 ......................................................................................................................
Changing face of tech spending and Indian IT ....................................................................................................................
GPS tracking devices to monitor Obama convoy .................................................................................................................
Major cause of blindness identified ......................................................................................................................................
TRAI issues draft rules for full mobile number portability ................................................................................................
India, U.S. to extend Defence cooperation pact ...................................................................................................................
HIV treatment to be linked to Aadhaar ................................................................................................................................
Agni-V to be test-fired from canister today ..........................................................................................................................
Swine flu Deaths preventable: Centre .................................................................................................................................
Smart phone dongle to diagnose HIV, syphilis .....................................................................................................................
Worlds oldest computer is even older than scientists thought ...........................................................................................
Delay in NASAs Orion spaceship test flight ........................................................................................................................
Google launches a new application for SMBs ......................................................................................................................
Benefits from music for the autistic: study ...........................................................................................................................
Ability of HIV to cause AIDS slowing found study .............................................................................................................
Artificial intelligence could eliminate human race: Hawking .............................................................................................
Hayabusa2 launched to explore how earth was formed ......................................................................................................
Slimmer & sleeker Google Glass soon: report ......................................................................................................................
Shela River route closed after Sundarbans oil spill .............................................................................................................
Mosquito coils, incense sticks contain carcinogens: expert .................................................................................................
Stem cells in eye can restore vision: scientists ......................................................................................................................
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Satellite technology to assess coral reef health .....................................................................................................................

Mountains of plastic waste floating in worlds oceans ........................................................................................................
Nine new frog species add to Western Ghats inventory ......................................................................................................
India would have new comprehensive climate legislation: Javadekar ...............................................................................
Modi, Mukesh Ambani amongst most searched personalities in 2014: Yahoo ...................................................................
Google set to replace CAPTCHAs with single click feature .............................................................................................
African Snail will make a comeback says experts ................................................................................................................
Responsibility of developed Countries Stressed: Climate Summit .....................................................................................
Discarded laptop batteries have enough life to power slums: Study ..................................................................................
Bio-digester technology of DRDO can give thrust to Swachh Bharat campaign .............................................................
Epidemic Outbreaks Test Health Apparatus .......................................................................................................................
Mental health programme to focus on the elderly ...............................................................................................................
NASAs Kepler spacecraft discovers Super-Earth ...............................................................................................................
Microsoft pitches for White-Fi technology to provide last mile broadband connectivity ...............................................
INS Arihant (S2) may be of a limited utility submarine ......................................................................................................
The pollutants causing discolouration of Taj Mahal identified ...........................................................................................
Coconut plucking, women take high Wages .........................................................................................................................
Remote powered solar ploughing machine developed by engineering students ..............................................................
DNA reveals history of horse domestication: scientists .......................................................................................................
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SPORTS ....................................................................................................... 268

Bangladesh, India in Final .....................................................................................................................................................
Ethiopias Geremew and Daska emerge victorious ..............................................................................................................
Sania-Hingis duo loses Rome Masters final .........................................................................................................................
Bronze for Archana ................................................................................................................................................................
Djokovic, Sharapova win Rome titles ...................................................................................................................................
ICC committee recommends removal of batting PowerPlay ...............................................................................................
Bayliss appointed England head coach .................................................................................................................................
Ministry considers recognising regional federations ...........................................................................................................
Bolt wins 200m at rain-hit Ostrava ......................................................................................................................................
Kochi gets provisional nod to host FIFA under-17 World Cup ...........................................................................................
IOC emerges champion ..........................................................................................................................................................
Russia, Qatar confirmed as hosts ..........................................................................................................................................
Chen Long and Carolina emerge champions .......................................................................................................................
Deepika wins bronze ..............................................................................................................................................................
National anthem jeered ..........................................................................................................................................................
Indian grapplers win four more golds ..................................................................................................................................
McCullum, Hesson honoured ................................................................................................................................................
AIFF had earlier signed a MoU with the Japan Football Association in February 2015 .................................................
Windies lose three wickets .....................................................................................................................................................
Kalmadi conferred top Asian award .....................................................................................................................................
Silver medals for Poovamma and Liksy ................................................................................................................................
Ravi in ICC Elite Panel .........................................................................................................................................................
Kashyap stuns world No. 1 Long ..........................................................................................................................................
FIFA suspends 2026 World Cup bidding ..............................................................................................................................
Interpol suspends deal with FIFA .........................................................................................................................................
New Zealand takes 2-1 ODI series lead in England .............................................................................................................
Hulkenberg drives Porsche to victory ...................................................................................................................................
Sumit, Karman win titles .......................................................................................................................................................
Australia Wins ICC World Cup 2015 ...................................................................................................................................
NZ Bags Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament 2015 ......................................................................................................
Sania Mirza Ranked World Number One in Doubles .........................................................................................................
Lewis Hamilton Wins Bahrain Grand Prix of Formula One ..............................................................................................
Jitu Rai Wins Bronze Medal in ISSF Shooting World Cup ................................................................................................
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Gujarat Clinches Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Cricket Trophy ..................................................................................................

Y Pranjala Wins Asian Junior Tennis Championship .........................................................................................................
Miami Open Title 2015 ..........................................................................................................................................................
NZ Cricketer Retires from International Cricket ................................................................................................................
Indian Open Super Series 2015 .............................................................................................................................................
Kidambi Kidabi clinches swis grand prix gold 2015 ...........................................................................................................
Services wins 69th Santosh trophy ......................................................................................................................................
Karnataka wins Ranji Trophy 2015 ....................................................................................................................................
Snagakara hits record four consecutive ODI centuary .......................................................................................................
AB Deviler hits Fastest 150 in ODI ......................................................................................................................................
Ranchi Ray wins Hero Hockey India League 2015 ............................................................................................................
Chris Hayle hits first World Cup Double Centuary ............................................................................................................
Anil Kumble Inducted into ICC Hall of Fame ....................................................................................................................
Geeta, Kavita win Crowns .....................................................................................................................................................
India storms into the final, meets Poland .............................................................................................................................
Jackie Chan song for Olympics App ....................................................................................................................................
Selection criterion for Multi-discipline events .....................................................................................................................
India draws with China .........................................................................................................................................................
Dalmiya set to return as BCCI chief ....................................................................................................................................
Hassan somersaults into Wall Street Journal ....................................................................................................................
FIS wins Legends Cup ...........................................................................................................................................................
India to host world bridge .....................................................................................................................................................
Sports awards scheme revamped ..........................................................................................................................................
Kerala wins overall title .........................................................................................................................................................
ATP & WTA Rio Open: Gilles Simon takes title ..................................................................................................................
Sea Hawks set world open-sea swim record ........................................................................................................................
Mandatory to share WC live feed: Prasar Bharti ................................................................................................................
Daredevils pick up Yuvraj for Rs.16 crore ..........................................................................................................................
Lahiri is Golfer of the Year ....................................................................................................................................................
Indian Aces beat UAE Royals to top IPTL standings ..........................................................................................................
Quick win for Deepan in National Premier Chess ...............................................................................................................
Varun Kakran set a new National record .............................................................................................................................
Chikkarangappa triumphs at CG Open Golf 2014 ..............................................................................................................
East Zone reclaims Deodhar Trophy after a long gap .......................................................................................................
Indians subdue the Dutch in Champions Trophy ................................................................................................................
Pakistan wins a thriller, makes final in Champions Trophy ...............................................................................................
IPTL & traditional tennis can co-exist says Carlos Moya ..................................................................................................
Mahalakshmi in sole lead in National under-17 girls chess ................................................................................................
Indians just behind Brazilians in goal-scorers list ..............................................................................................................
Trishul Chinnappa wins in Amateur Golf Championship ...................................................................................................
Germany wins Champions Trophy .......................................................................................................................................
Boxing India not Recognized by IOA ..................................................................................................................................
79 Indians retained for IPL 2015 ..........................................................................................................................................
AIBA bans boxer L. Sarita Devi ...........................................................................................................................................
Bindra wins bronze in National Shooting championship ....................................................................................................
No FIH event till Pakistan players are punished, decided Hockey India ...........................................................................
Tendulkar named for ICC World Cup 2015 ambassador ....................................................................................................
Gouramangi Singh is Bharat FCs new catch for 2015 .......................................................................................................
Srikanth is No. 4 in World Badminton ranking ...................................................................................................................
Use of bouncer is the right of a fast bowler says Rackemann .............................................................................................
Elano Blumer gets the Golden Boot in Indian Super League .............................................................................................
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AWARDS & PRIZES ................................................................................. 294

Japan Governments Highest Civilian Award to Professor C.N.R. Rao ............................................................................ 294
Ramkumar Ramanathan and Vijay Sundar Prashanth wins T. K. Ramanathan award ..................................................
Neel Mukherjee wins 10,000 Encore award for the year 2014 .........................................................................................
Vice President Confers Pt. Haridutt Sharma Award to Smt. Anurradha Prasad .............................................................
Heniz Award 2015 ..................................................................................................................................................................
NCDC Cooperative excellence award 2014 ..........................................................................................................................
Shivani Agarwal and Maharaja Pandit selected for prestigious Radcliffe fellowship ......................................................
Dr. Siva Mandjiny wins UNCs 2015 Award for Teaching Excellence ...............................................................................
Florence Nightingale Award given to 35 nurses ...................................................................................................................
Charlie Hebdo awarded PEN Freedom of Expression and courage award .......................................................................
Syrian journalist Mazen Darwish wins UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2015 ..........................
Redlnk lifetime Achievement award to Dr Prannoy ............................................................................................................
Dr. Promod Patil wins Whitley Awards 2015 .......................................................................................................................
Siddhartha Gigoo wins Commonwealth short story prize ..................................................................................................
Paris Based Poet Wins Kumar Asan World Prize ................................................................................................................
Susanta Lahiri Wins Hevesy Medal Award 2015 .................................................................................................................
UP Government to Honours Gopal Das Neeraj ..................................................................................................................
Champions of Change Award to Satya Nadela ....................................................................................................................
Bishwaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika International Solidarity Award 2015 .........................................................................
Femina Miss India 2015 .........................................................................................................................................................
Major Dhyan Chand Life Time Achievement Award to Balbir Singh Sr ..........................................................................
Shashi Kapoor to Get Dadasaheb Phalke Award .................................................................................................................
ISRO names for Gandhi Peace Prize 2014 ...........................................................................................................................
Akhil Sharmas Novel Family Life Wins Folio Prize 2015 ..................................................................................................
Bangladesh Wins Women in Parliament Award ..................................................................................................................
National Kavi Pradeep Samman Award ...............................................................................................................................
62nd National Film Awards 2014..........................................................................................................................................
Tyler Prize 2015 ......................................................................................................................................................................
Wisdom Cricket Almanack 2015 ...........................................................................................................................................
Veerappa Moily selected for Saraswati Samman 2014 ........................................................................................................
Namibian President bags Mo Ibrahim Prize 2014 ...............................................................................................................
I & B Presents 4th National Photography Awards ..............................................................................................................
Namibian President bags Mo Ibrahim Prize 2014 ...............................................................................................................
Stree Shakti & Nari Shakti Puraskar ...................................................................................................................................
Clemson University honours Ratan Tata with a Doctrate ...................................................................................................
87th Academic Award ............................................................................................................................................................
Rajendra Singh bags Stockholm Water Prize ......................................................................................................................
National Safety Award (Mines) for year 2011 & 12 .............................................................................................................
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IN THE NEWS ........................................................................................... 306

Aruna Shanbaug ....................................................................................................................................................................
Mukesh Khanna .....................................................................................................................................................................
KV Thomas .............................................................................................................................................................................
Ninad Bedekar ........................................................................................................................................................................
Daniel Mookhey .....................................................................................................................................................................
Suchitra Bhattacharya ...........................................................................................................................................................
Harbhajan Kaur Dheer .........................................................................................................................................................
Priti Patel ................................................................................................................................................................................
Mhairi Black ...........................................................................................................................................................................
Ruth Rendell ...........................................................................................................................................................................
Philip S. Goodman .................................................................................................................................................................
Maya Plisetskaya ....................................................................................................................................................................
Azhar Ali .................................................................................................................................................................................
Dr. Nasim Zaidi ......................................................................................................................................................................
Dronavalli Harika ..................................................................................................................................................................
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Tarique Rahman ..................................................................................................................................................................... 309

Gunter Grass .......................................................................................................................................................................... 309
Shamina Singh ........................................................................................................................................................................ 309
Baba Ramdev .......................................................................................................................................................................... 310
Yuki Bhambri ......................................................................................................................................................................... 310
Malala Yousafzai .................................................................................................................................................................... 310
Dr. Mohan Kumar .................................................................................................................................................................. 310
Meenakshi Madan Rai ........................................................................................................................................................... 310
Bidyut Chakraborty ............................................................................................................................................................... 310
Surya Bahadur Thapa ........................................................................................................................................................... 310
Stanislav Gross ....................................................................................................................................................................... 310
D Jayakanthan ........................................................................................................................................................................ 310
EM Hanifa ............................................................................................................................................................................... 311
Neeraj Kumar .......................................................................................................................................................................... 311
Venkadarath Saritha ............................................................................................................................................................... 311
Ashish Jakhar .......................................................................................................................................................................... 311
Vivek Priyadarshi .................................................................................................................................................................... 311
Jamal Benomar ........................................................................................................................................................................ 311
Surinder Pal Singh Cheema .................................................................................................................................................. 312
Lee Kuan Yew ......................................................................................................................................................................... 312
KM Mani ................................................................................................................................................................................ 312
Poonam Mahajan ................................................................................................................................................................... 312
Malli Mastan Babu ................................................................................................................................................................ 312
Meira Kumar .......................................................................................................................................................................... 312
Venkatraman to head Royal Society of UK .......................................................................................................................... 312
Yusuf kechery ........................................................................................................................................................................ 313
Mahendra Singh Dhoni .......................................................................................................................................................... 313
Katharine Viner ...................................................................................................................................................................... 313
Sohail Aman ............................................................................................................................................................................ 313
Kavinder Gupta ...................................................................................................................................................................... 314
Narayan Desai ........................................................................................................................................................................ 314
Marry Kom ............................................................................................................................................................................. 314
Sir Terry Pratchett ................................................................................................................................................................. 314
Vinod Mehta ........................................................................................................................................................................... 315
Ram Sunder Das ..................................................................................................................................................................... 315
National Issues
Sahitya Akademi to publish satirical poem

on Gandhi: Jnanpith winner
Notwithstanding the Supreme Court order
stating that the right to free speech and
expression is not absolute in the context of
attributing obscene language to revered,
historical figures, Jnanpith awardee
Bhalchandra Nemade is set to publish the
controversial poem Gandhi Mala Bethala
(I met Gandhi).
Mr. Nemade says he wrote to the poet,
Vasant Gurjar, in March and is awaiting a
response. His letter dated March 21, praises
Mr. Gurjars work and seeks his permission
to publish the poem in a proposed volume
on Gandhis works to be brought out by
the Sahitya Akademi, which comes under
the Department of Culture.
The chairman of the Sahitya Akademi has
decided to collect selective and important
literary works on Mahatma Gandhi from
24 different Indian languages and I am the
chief editor for the Marathi literature on
Mahatma Gandhi
In my opinion your poem, Gandhi Mala

Bethala is one of the best poems on
Mahatma Gandhi so far published in
Marathi poetry. Your poem expresses in a
unique style the wide social spectrum of
Indian society after assassination of the
Mahatma by Godse. Please accord your
permission for including your poem in the
collection to be published by the Sahitya
Akademi, Mr. Nemade wrote.
Complete Tejpal trial in one year: SC
The Supreme Court gave a Goa lower court
one year to complete the trial against
Tehelka founder-editor Tarun Tejpal in a
sexual assault case.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L.
Dattu agreed to a request from the trial
judge to provide more time to conclude the
proceedings in the case.
The apex court, in January, ordered the
lower court to hold daily hearings and
decide the case within eight months.
The court had expressed unhappiness over
Current Affairs 2015

the fact that the trial proceedings have been
stalled, and asked Mr. Tejpals counsel to
not delay it further and begin arguments
on framing of charges in the case.
Mr. Tejpal has been charge sheeted for
allegedly raping, sexually harassing and
outraging the modesty of a junior colleague
during an event at a Goa hotel in November
2013.
India, China to set up hotline between Army
HQs
The omnibus communiqu, which
emerged after talks between Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and his
counterpart Li Keqiang at the Great Hall
of the People on Friday said a hotline
between the two Army Headquarters
would be established and additional points
along the frontiers would be opened to
enable local border commanders to hold
crisis-management meetings.
Annual exchange visits between the two
military headquarters and neighbouring
military commands would continue.
During talks, Mr. Modi reiterated the
importance of clarification of Line of Actual
Control (LAC). The Prime Minister said
the Chinese leadership was responsive,
when he suggested that China should take
a strategic and long term view of our
relations.
Without directly to referring to Pakistan
a country with which China has a special
relationship Mr. Modi said the two
leaderships decided to enhance strategic
communication and coordination on our
region.
Indian officials clarified that Chinas
differences with neighbours in the South
China Sea were not discussed a position
that is bound to draw the attention in some
countries of the ASEAN bloc and Japan.
The joint statement made it amply clear

that outer space and nuclear energy are
emerging as new areas for collaboration in
the future. A Space Cooperation
Mechanism had been established, which
would steer a five year outline for
partnership, which would also cover lunar
and deep space exploration, between the
Indian Space research Organisation (ISRO)
and the China National Space
Administration.
The two sides would engage in peaceful
use of nuclear energy a decision that led
to a conversation on Chinas stance towards
India within the ambit of the Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG) during the talks.
PMs visit to 18 countries in one year
unprecedented: CPI(M)
Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to 18
countries in a short span of one year is
unprecedented, the CPI(M) said.
It needs to be noted that Prime Minister
Modi visited 18 countries during the last
one year. This is unprecedented for any
Prime Minister during such a short span of
time, party General Secretary Sitaram
Yechury said here after the first meeting of
its newly-elected Polit Bureau.
He said Mr. Modi was obviously making
up for the time he had lost for being denied
visas. His meetings with NRIs is an
extension of his being in election mode.
Referring to the Prime Ministers attacks on
the Opposition on foreign soil, Mr. Yechury
said: When we go on foreign visits as an
Opposition, we ensure that we maintain the
dignity of India. He appears to be in
continuation of the election mode. What he
says about the Opposition on foreign soil,
such comments are not expected.
The two-day Polit Bureau meeting took
note of Mr. Modis visit to China saying it

has always supported the improvement of
India-China relations that will result in
mutual beneficial consequences for both
the countries.
It said the visit was part of the
continuation of this process of
strengthening bilateral relations with China
and people to people contacts.
However, it would carry out a detailed
analysis of the texts of the agreements
arrived at between the two countries.
The two sides signed a record 24
agreements covering railways, mining,
outer space, earthquake science and
engineering, tourism, sister-cities and
establishment of consulates in Chengdu
and Chennai.
As many as 26 business agreements worth
over $22 billion were also signed between
Indian firms including Adani group,
Bharti Airtel and Welspun and their
Chinese counterparts during the visit.
Over 11,000 women to be recruited in central
Security Forces
Over 11,000 women will soon be recruited
in central security forces for combat duties
such as border guarding and law and order
assignments.
The government has already set in motion
its plan to hire 8,533 women constables in
paramilitary forces such as CRPF, BSF,
CISF and ITBP.
Also, sanctions have been granted by the
Union Home Ministry for raising 2,772
women personnel in the Sashastra Seema
Bal by 2017.
The recruitments are being done to take
the representation of women in central
forces to at least 5 per cent of the total
strength in the coming days. At present,
women constitute about 2.15 per cent of the
total strength of these forces, a senior

officer said.
A special sanction has also been accorded
to the CRPF to raise two exclusive women
battalions within its establishment to
bolster the strength of the existing three
such units.
The CRPF has tasked its women units with
rendering extensive law and order duties
apart from their recent and small-scale
induction in anti-Naxal operations theatre
in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. They are
also being increasingly deployed for static
guard duties and escorting pilgrims of
Mansarovar and Amarnath yatras, the
officer said.
The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) will
hold a three-tier examination for these
posts with the stages being physical tests,
written efficiency and medical tests.
Candidates, who have passed Class X and
are between 18-23 years of age, are eligible
to apply for these posts.
The expected salary for those hired would
be around Rs 20,200 apart from other
benefits that the government extends to the
Central Armed Police Forces.
Mongolia gets $1-bn credit gift

India announced a $1-billion credit line to
Mongolia for infrastructure development
as they upgraded their ties to strategic
partnership and agreed to deepen defence
cooperation besides exploring potential for
tie-ups in areas such as the civil nuclear
sector.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on
a two-day visit to Mongolia, the first by an
Indian Premier, held wide-ranging
discussions with his Mongolian
counterpart, Chimed Saikhanbileg, and the
two leaders pledged to take bilateral
economic partnership to a new level.

I am pleased to announce that India will
provide a Line of Credit of $1 billion to
support expansion of Mongolias economic
capacity and infrastructure, Mr. Modi told
a joint press interaction with Mr.
Saikhanbileg at the State Palace.
Today, Mongolia is also an integral part
of Indias Act East Policy, he said.
The destinies of India and Mongolia are
closely linked with the future of Asia
Pacific region. We can work together to
help advance peace, stability and
prosperity in this region, Mr. Modi said,
pitching for close bilateral ties amid Chinas
push for increasing its regional influence.
After their talks, the two signed a joint
statement committing to consolidate ties
and upgrade the comprehensive
partnership to strategic partnership and
agreed to renew their Treaty of Friendly
Relations and Cooperation.
The two sides inked 13 other pacts that
include one on enhancing cooperation in
border defence, policing and surveillance,
air services, cyber security and new and
renewable energy.
At a banquet hosted in his honour at
Ulaanbaatar on Sunday, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said, Ours is a
relationship that is not measured on the
scale of commerce or driven by competition
against others. It is a relationship of
immeasurable positive energy that comes
from our spiritual links and shared ideals.
So, as we celebrate 25 years of democracy
in Mongolia and 60 years of our diplomatic
relations, we know that the best for our
relationship lies ahead of us, he said.
Mr. Modi also called on President
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and discussed
bilateral ties and issues of mutual interests.
India and Mongolia support the evolution
of open, balanced and inclusive security

architecture in the Asia Pacific region based
on collected efforts, considering legitimate
interests of all states of the region guided
by respect for norms and principles of
international law, the joint statement by the
two Prime Ministers said.
After signing the agreements, Mr. Modi
said: I was very pleased with my
discussions with the Prime Minister. We
have strong convergence of views on
bilateral relations and our regional and
international partnership.
The agreements that we have just signed
speak of the depth of the relationship.
These cover economic relations,
development partnership, defence and
security, and people-to-people contacts,
the Prime Minister added.
SC upholds validity of Company Law
Tribunal
The Supreme Court upheld the
constitutional validity of the National
Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and its
appellate forum under the Companies Act
of 2013.
A five-judge Constitution Bench, headed
by Chief Justice H.L. Dattu, however,
quashed Section 409(3)(a) and (c) and
Section 411(3) of the Act providing for
qualifications of technical members.
It held that for appointment of technical
members to NCLT, directions contained in
the 2010 judgment should be scrupulously
followed.
The 2010 decision held that persons below
the rank of a Secretary or Additional
Secretary should not be appointed as a
technical member to NCLT.
Justice A.K. Sikri, who delivered the verdict
for the Bench, said the provision should not
be tinkered with as it would dilute
standards so zealously sought to be

secure[d].
It also held as invalid Section 412 of the new
Act, which contemplates selection by a
committee consisting of two Judges and
three secretaries.
The court directed the Centre to ensure that
the bodies are adequately manned and start
functioning at the earliest.
TV channels flout rules under garb of media
freedom: activist
The Electronic Media Monitoring Centre
(EMMC) of the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry has reported 13,000
instances of violations of regulatory norms
by television channels in 2013-14.
These violations came to light after Gunturbased Edara Gopi Chand, an activist with
Media-Watch India, waged a three-year
battle to expose the poor regulation of
content on Indias TV channels. Using the
RTI Act, Mr. Chand succeeded in getting
the EMMC to disclose information on TV
channels violating programming and
advertising codes after the Central
Information Commission issued an order
in March. After the EMMC disclosure in
May, many violations in 2014-15 have been
exposed.
EMMC data show 5,566 violations
pertaining to distracting part-screen and
scrolling ads that interfere with the
programme and paid promotional
programmes telecast in the garb of news/
interviews. By Rule 7(10) of the Cable
Networks Rules, 1994, all advertisements
should be clearly distinguishable from the
programme and should not in any manner
interfere with the programme such as using
the lower part of the screen to carry
captions, static or moving messages
alongside the programme.
The EMMC reports 2,965 instances of

surrogate advisements of liquor/tobacco
products. It found 1,245 instances of
misleading advertisements, which include
superstitious and deceptive ads of
kavachas, yantras , medicines, creams and
so on, claiming to possess miraculous
powers which are otherwise serious
offences under the Drugs and Magic
Remedies (Objectionable Advertise-ments)
Act, 1955.
Merely publishing statistics of violations
is meaningless unless the names of the
violating channels and the nature or gravity
of each of these violations is revealed. It is
an open secret that the I&B Ministry sits
on these reports without taking any action.
It issues occasional advisories to which no
channel pays heed, Mr. Chand said.
According to information on the EMMC
website, 37 per cent of the violations in 2014
pertained to vulgarity or obscenity and 11
per cent related to representation of
women. But National Commission for
Women
chairperson
Lalitha
Kumaramangalam told The Hindu that no
complaints pertaining to TV channels were
received by her office, although complaints
about social media often reach her.
Even if complaints against TV channels
do come to us, there is so much hoo-ha over
freedom of speech these days, I wonder
what concrete action we could initiate
against them, she said.
Mr. Chand says that when the Ministry
enforces the regulations by prohibiting
telecast of the offending channel for a few
days, TV channels scream government
regulation and approach the courts for
relief, thus preventing any action.

Dont judge a woman by her husbands past:
SC
Highlighting that a woman is not a proxy
for her husband and enjoys her own
identity, the Supreme Court has held that
a womans character cannot be judged
merely on the basis of her husbands
criminal past.
The verdict by a three-judge Bench, led by
Justice T.S. Thakur, came on a petition filed
by Manyata Devi, who runs a construction
firm.
She had moved the Supreme Court against
a decision of the District Magistrate at Basti
in Uttar Pradesh to deny her a character
certificate. The Allahabad High Court had
refused to intervene in the case.
The certificate was required to renew her
firms registration as a contractor for the
State Irrigation Department.
The District Magistrate was swayed by the
fact that her husband had faced several
criminal cases, though he was acquitted in
all of them.
It is difficult to appreciate how criminal
cases registered against the husband of the
appellant [Manyata Devi] could possibly
deny her a certificate of good moral
character, the judgment on May 15 said.
In the apex court, the Uttar Pradesh
government said a contract mafia was
operating in the State. In Ms. Devis case,
she would be used as a front for her
husband to run the operations. The State
said she had no experience whatsoever in
the construction business.
The State quoted the law that registration
is granted only to people who have no
criminal background. This was to ensure
that only genuine contractors win government contract works.
The Bench observed that the grant of
character certificate had nothing to do with

her professional inexperience or her
husbands criminal background, and asked
the DM to reconsider her case.
Harman Singh
is now a global hero
A day after a Sikh man broke religious
protocol by removing his turban to help a
profusely bleeding child in New Zealand,
people praised him on social networking
sites, a media report said.
The story of Harman Singh, 22, has been
shared tens of thousands of times on social
media as he woke up to hundreds of
messages from around the world.
A picture of his setting aside religious
protocol by removing his turban to cradle
a boy hit by a car has turned him into an
instant hero, New Zealand Herald
reported.
Mr. Singh has since received hundreds of
Facebook herograms from as far afield
as the U.S., Europe and India. Total
strangers are asking to be friends on
Facebook and thousands of people have
said Well done. I was only doing what I
had to and trying to be a decent member
of the community, he said.
SIT cites report of agency funded by Ford
Foundation
The Union government may have put the
Ford Foundation on watch citing national
security concerns, but the Special
Investigation Team on black money
appointed by it has cited reports of an
agency funded by the Foundation to
highlight the issue of illegal financial
outflows from India.
The SIT in its latest report on black money
submitted to the Supreme Court has
quoted reports by Global Financial

Integrity (GFI), a Washington DC-based
research and advisory organisation.
The agency, according to its website, is
funded by U.S.-based Ford Foundation,
apart from the United Nations
Development Programme, international
financial transparency coalitions and
financial institutions besides individuals
and governments of Denmark, Finland,
Nigeria and Spain.
The SIT has quoted a GFI-2013 report
stating that illicit financial flows from India
ranked fifth out of 142 countries
remains uncontrolled and that in 2011, it
stood at $94,933 million.
The SIT highlighted that in the subsequent
report dated December 15, 2015, GFI
mentioned that illicit financial flows from
India for the year 2012 touched $94,757
million, that is a sum of Rs.5,93,557 crore
approximately.
The cumulative illicit outflow over the
decade was estimated at $4,39,587 million
and instead of the fifth rank, as per the 2013
report, last years GFI report ranked India
fourth out of 145 countries.
The latest GFI report puts India among the
top five exporters of illicit capital over the
past decade, and it is also the fifth in the
list of 20 largest export under-invoicers
with the respective proceeds requirements
(2003-12).
It states that Asia accounted for 40.3 per
cent cumulative illicit financial flows from
the developing world during 2003-2012
and that the vast majority of such outflows,
amounting to 85.3 per cent, were due to
trade misinvoicing (manipulating the price,
quantity, or quality of a good or service on
an invoice so as to shift capital illicitly
across borders).
Taking up the issue of over/under
invoicing, the SIT discussed the GFI reports
with the Directorate of Revenue

Intelligence (DRI), asking the agency to
conduct a study of some transactions with
one or two countries for some items.
Subsequently, the DRI submitted a
preliminary study report on the trade
mismatch between India and China,
establishing a pattern of under valuation
to avoid import duties in India.
The agency found that the differential
between the actual value and declared
value of the imported products were being
sent through informal channels.
The Ford Foundation, which has been
accused by the Gujarat government of
interfering in the countrys internal matters
and abetting communal disharmony, was
put on the Union Home Ministry prior
approval watch list last month.
In coma for 42 years, Aruna Shanbaug dies
Aruna Shanbaug (67), a former nurse at
Mumbais King Edward Memorial
Hospital who spent the last 42 years on a
bed in a vegetative state after a sexual
assault by a ward boy in 1973, died .
She was diagnosed with pneumonia last
week and put on ventilator support.
Doctors said her condition improved
slightly, but she continued to remain on life
support. She suffered a cardiac arrest ,
said Dr. Avinash Supe, Dean, KEM. Our
staff tried everything possible to save her,
but we could not. Its a terrible loss to the
KEM staff, who have been treating her for
so long. She was part of our family.
Shanbaugs condition had been
deteriorating for the last few years and she
had difficulty swallowing food. The staff
was feeding her nutrition powder through
a tube (Ryles tube).
On November 27, 1973, Shanbaug, then a
junior nurse at KEM, was brutally assaulted

and raped by a ward boy-cum-sweeper
Sohanlal B. Valmiki. He throttled her with
a dog chain, cutting off the supply of blood
and oxygen to key parts of her brain. She
has been in a vegetative state ever since,
confined to a bed at the hospital where
nurses and staff took care of her.
After her death , a controversy erupted
when her family members reached the
hospital to claim the body, which the staff
and nurses opposed.
No one was here when we took care of
her. How can someone come suddenly and
claim the body? We will do the last rites,
said Namrata Kasabe, a nurse at KEM.
Later in the evening, a compromise was
reached and she was cremated at the
Bhoiwada crematorium. Dr. Supe and her
family members collectively performed the
last rites.
Clean Ganga project seeks corporate, NRI
participation
The Rs. 20,000 crore Namami Gange project
is spread over five years and covers 41
tributaries of Ganga. Rs. 7272 crore has
been set aside for interventions in existing,
defunct projects while Rs. 12,728 crore has
been allocated for new initiatives. This is a
four-fold increase since the new
government came to power. Since 1985, Rs.
4168.55 crore has been spent on cleaning
the river.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga that
has been assigned the task of cleaning the
river, is focussed on abatement of pollution
and has designed its interventions around
this. However, it is seeking partnerships
and is tailoring its projects so that state
governments, local municipalities and
panchayats have a stake and take
ownership of the projects for sustainability.
To speed up the process of cleaning the
river, the Mission has sought the

participation of institutions, donors,
overseas Indians, business and corporate
houses to donate their might and money
for projects or sponsoring projects to clean
up the river . Already pilot projects have
been launched in eight cities. The challenge
is to set up a drainage system in thickly
populated cities.
The urgent need is to bring down lean
season BOD levels in the river to 10 mg/
litre/day, the Total Suspended Solid levels
to 10 mg/litre/day and Total Faecal
Coliform to 100 mg/litre/day. These levels
run into over lakhs at present.
Stopping pollutants from coming into the
Ganga are a priority, say senior officials
of the Mission. Donors and philanthropist
agencies can take their pick in tackling
surface pollution and can contribute, say,
for river surface cleaning equipment which
range from Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 12 crores. They
can sponsor improved electric or woodbased crematoriums .
First tribal woman to be Jharkhand
Governor
Draupadi Murmu took oath as the ninth
Governor of Jharkhand, the first tribal
woman to occupy the position in the State.
She was administered the oath of office by
Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice
Virendra Singh. She succeeds Syed Ahmad,
who has been shifted to Manipur.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das was present
at the ceremony.
Born on June 20, 1958, Ms. Murmu was first
elected in 2000 on a BJP ticket from
Rairangpur in Odishas Mayurbhanj
district. She was re-elected in 2005 after
which she was elevated to the Cabinet and
given charge of transport and commercial
taxes.
Ms. Murmu graduated from R.B. Womens

College, Bhubaneswar in 1979. She worked
as a clerk in the State secretariat before
joining politics.
Kejriwal, L-G take fight to Rashtrapati
Bhavan
officers and there was no basis for the

ruling partys complaint against him.
The Lieutenant Governor also met the
Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh.
Ahluwalia to
head panel on land Bill
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung
separately met President Pranab
Mukherjee and accused each other of
disturbing the fine balance of jurisdictions
in the Constitutional scheme for
governance.
A senior government official told that the
most significant request made by the CM
was to initiate an exercise to streamline the
existing procedure of transfers and
postings of bureaucrats to avoid a similar
impasse in future.
He has requested that there be clear
demarcation in relation to the transfers and
postings of bureaucrats as an elected
government was well within its
constitutional rights to seek whatever the
nature of service that it required of its
personnel as it deemed fit, a source said.
Meanwhile, the war between the L-G and
the CM showed no signs of abating with
the Delhi Government appointing senior
bureaucrat Arvind Ray as the Principal
Secretary, General Administration
Department (GAD), without Mr. Jungs
approval.
In another clear signal of defiance, the
ruling party got the appointment orders
issued by Principal Secretary (Services)
Rajendra Kumar, whose own appointment
to the post was held as void by the L-G.
Mr. Jung reportedly apprised the President
of the stand-off with the AAP government,
while maintaining that he had the power
to appoint and transfer Delhi government
Former Union Minister and BJP MP S.S.

Ahluwalia was appointed chairman of a
Joint Committee of Parliament that will go
into the provisions of the controversial land
acquisition Bill.
Mr. Ahluwalia is a BJP Lok Sabha member
from Darjeeling in West Bengal.
Almost the entire Opposition and even
some allies of the ruling NDA such as the
Shiv Sena and the Swabhimani Paksha, are
against the various provisions of the
amendment Bill brought by the
government.
The Congress and the Left parties have
been specially targeting the Modi
dispensation as anti-farmer and procorporate.
The 30-member Joint Committee of the Lok
Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will submit its
report on the first day of the monsoon
session.
The 20 members of the Lok Sabha who are
on the joint panel include K.V. Thomas,
Rajiv Satav (both Congress), Anand Rao
Adsul (Shiv Sena), Kalyan Banerjee
(Trinamool Congress), B. Mahtab (BJD),
Mohammad Salim (CPI-M), Chirag
Paswan (LJP) and Udit Raj, Anurag Thakur
and Ganesh Singh (all BJP).
The 10 Rajya Sabha members include Ram
Narain Dudi (BJP), Jairam Ramesh, Panna
Lal Punia, Digvijay Singh (all Congress),
Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Sharad Yadav (JDU), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Derek OBrien
(TMC) and Rajpal Singh Saini (BSP).
10

Hungarian author awarded Man Booker
International
Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai
was presented the Man Booker
International Prize for 2015 at a ceremony
at the Victoria and Albert Museum in
London.
The 61-year-old writer was on the shortlist
of 10 names, which included Amitav
Ghosh. The literary prize, worth 60,000
(around Rs. 60 lakh), is given to a living
author of any nationality who has
published fiction either in English or in
English translation.
Unlike the annual Man Booker Prize for
fiction, the international prize, given once
in two years, is in recognition of a writers
body of work and overall contribution to
fiction rather than of a single novel.
Mr. Krasznahorkais novels are known to
be complex and demanding a single
sentence can run to a page and deal with
dystopian and apocalyptic themes in which
an impending civilisational crisis threatens
the world. His novels include Satantango
(1985, English translation 2012), The
Melancholy of Resistance (1989, English
translation 1998), and Seiobo Down Below
(2008, English translation 2013).
Satantango was later adapted for a film, in
collaboration with the Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr.
In the 1990s, Mr. Krasznahorkai began
spending more time in East Asia, notably
in Mongolia, China and Japan, and his
writing began to feature themes from the
aesthetics and literature of these countries.
The Prisoner of Urga and Destruction and
Sorrow Beneath the Heavens are books on
his experiences in China and Mongolia.
In her speech at the award ceremony,
Marina Warner, writer and academic, who
chaired the judging panel, described Mr.

Krasznahorkai as a visionary writer of
extraordinary intensity and vocal range,
and his work as fiction as epiphany.
Laszlo acknowledges Kafka as a
precursor, and his own ironies are cleareyed, with a gift of re-churning reality so
that what seems a far-fetched nightmare reassembles into the all-too recognisable
landscape. He can be lethal in his portraits
of us human beings, yet also funny
gallows humour, surprisingly lightfooted.
Mr. Krasznahorkais translator George
Szirtes, who was present, was given a
translators prize of 15,000. The former
winners of the Man Booker International
Prize include the late Chinua Achebe of
Nigeria, the American author Philip Roth,
and Alice Munro from Canada, who won
the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013.
MEA rejects Geelanis application
The External Affairs Ministry has rejected
the passport application of Hurriyat leader
Syed Ali Shah Geelani as he had not
mentioned his nationality in the form.
Mr. Geelani told: I have not filled the
nationality column and left it blank as we
live in an internationally recognised
disputed territory.
The Ministry, in a statement, said Mr.
Geelanis application could not be
processed as he had submitted an
incomplete form. He had not met the
prerequisites for seeking a passport,
including payment of the application fee
and submission of biometric details and
photographs. The application cannot be
processed in its present form, the
statement said.
The Hurriyat leader, who had sought a
passport as he wanted to visit his ailing
11
daughter in Saudi Arabia, said he could not

submit the biometric details as he was
under house arrest and was not allowed to
move out to complete the requisite
formalities at the passport office.
L-Gs silence
vindicates our stand
Even as the Delhi government defended its
actions over the past few days in the
ongoing confrontation with the LieutenantGovernor, the Opposition, took the matter
to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking his
intervention.
A delegation led by the Bharatiya Janata
Partys (BJP) Leader of Opposition in the
Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta apprised
the President of the constitutional crisis.
We informed the President about the
deadlock and sought his intervention, said
Mr. Gupta.
Meanwhile, an elated Delhi Government
viewed the absence of any response to a
letter seeking clarification on an order from
the L-G declaring a minor re-shuffle in the
bureaucracy effected by it constitutionally
void as a welcome development.
This just proves that the Government is
not only right but also that its decisions
have been completely in conformity with
the Constitution. In any case, we are ready
with our own response to any further
clarification sought by the L-G, a
Government official told.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia, denied that the morale of
bureaucracy had been hit by the ongoing
tussle. .
He said their government had stopped
transfers and postings that had become an
industry in Delhi.
PMs Dhaka visit to

yield road, port connectivity
India and Bangladesh will sign a series of
agreements during Prime Minister
Narendra Modis visit to Dhaka in June
2015 , ushering in plans for road, rail and
port connectivity and energy tie-ups. Mr.
Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart,
Sheikh Hasina, will flag off a KolkataDhaka-Tripura bus service.
The two countries are in talks to set up bus
links from Dhaka to Shillong and
Guwahati, and may sign energy pacts to
share power generated in the northeastern
States, officials told.
The main purpose is to save people time
and money, Bangladeshs High
Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali
said, referring to the fact that at present,
connectivity to Northeast India is through
the narrow Siliguri corridor or chickens
neck.
We need full understanding and
cooperation for this, and we do hope PM
Modis visit will pave the way, the High
Commissioner said, speaking to members
of the Indian Association for Foreign
Affairs Correspondents ahead of Mr.
Modis visit to Dhaka, expected to be for
two days between June 6 and 10.
On whether India could benefit from links
to the Chittagong port as well, Mr. Ali said
that would depend on India restoring full
railway links.
Dismissing concerns about China, which
had reportedly decided to invest in the Pyra
deep-sea port project, as seeing ghosts in
the
neighbourhood,
the
High
Commissioner said Bangladesh wanted a
consortium of countries to invest in, and
benefit from, the deep-sea port.
India and Bangladesh should move to
12

bridge the suspicion gap and put interregional connectivity first, Mr. Ali said.
The High Commissioner complimented the
government for clearing the land
boundary-related
constitutional
amendment in Parliament, so that Mr.
Modi can sign the agreement in Dhaka.
Parrikar pushes for Chief of Defence Staff

Indias current defence arrangement is
inadequate and needs an individual or
body like the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
to look at the integration of forces, Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
I will take a call on it maybe in July or so.
But to be frank, it is not my decision. The
decision has to be of the Cabinet Committee
on Security he told when asked about
the Modi governments view.
So I will put up my proposal Let it be
discussed by various people concerned and
then we will come to a conclusion. I believe
that there should be a body, which will see
the integration of forces, he said at his
South Block office.
Pointing out that the situation on the Line
of Actual Control with China was better
than earlier, Mr. Parrikar said he viewed
China as a healthy competitor in the
economic field, whose success in
manufacturing he would like to replicate
in India.
On the boundary question, the Defence
Minister felt that slowly, over a period of
time, issues with China would cool down
and get resolved but if someone expects
overnight resolution, that might not be
possible.
Four Indians among worlds 100 most
powerful women
Four Indians are among the worlds 100
most powerful women who are
transforming the world, according to the

Forbes 12th annual list, which is topped
by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The top 10 include U.S. presidential
hopeful Hillary Clinton (2), philanthriopist
Melinda Gates (3), Federal Reserve Chair
Janet Yellen (3), GM CEO Mary Barra (5),
IMF Chief Christine Lagarde (6), Brazilian
President Dilma Rousseff (7), Facebook
COO Sheryl Sandberg (8), YouTube CEO
Susan Wojcicki (9,) and U.S. First Lady
Michelle Obama (10).
SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya (30),
ICICI bank head Chanda Kochhar (35),
Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
(85) and HT Media Chair Shobhana Bhartia
(93), and two women of Indian-origin
PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi (15) and Cisco
Chief Technology and Strategy Officer
Padmasree Warrior (84) make the list.
They were ranked by dollars, media
presence and impact.
On Ms. Bhattacharya, Forbes said she
oversees 2,20,000 staff members in 16,000
branches and services 225 million
customers at the countrys largest lender
(assets $400 billion) with offices spread
over 36 countries.
Recognising the multiple roles of working
women, Bhattacharya pioneered a twoyear sabbatical policy for female employees
taking maternity leave or give extended
care to family, it added.
Merkel has made the list 10 times over the
past 12 years nine times as No 1. The list
also includes media mogul Oprah Winfrey
(12), singer Beyonce Knowles (21), Yahoo
CEO Marissa Mayer (22), Vogue Editor-inChief Anna Wintour (28), Queen Elizabeth
II (41), TV personality Ellen DeGeneres
(50), actress and humanitarian Angelina
Jolie (54), Bangladesh Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina Wajed (59) and singer
Taylor Swift (64).
13
Forbes added that as of January 2015, 10

women served as heads of state and 14 as
heads of government. Women currently
hold 23 (4.6 per cent) of CEO positions at
S&P 500 companies.
India denies pressuring Swedish paper
India denied asking the Swedish
newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) to retract
portions of its interview with President
Pranab Mukherjee in which he had made
references to the Bofors issue, because it
could affect the state visit of the President.
The DN has said Indias Ambassador to
Sweden and Latvia Bose Harrison has
asked for a retraction, but it refused to do
so and stood by its decision to run the
statement of Mr. Mukherjee that since no
Indian court had given its judgment on the
Bofors issue, it could not be called a
scandal. External Affairs Ministry
sources told. This is a case of
miscommunication.
We did not ask for a retraction on the Bofors
issue; we stand by what he has said.
Even though prior to the interview DN had
said they will not ask questions on the
Bofors issue, they still went ahead with it,
but President Mukherjee answered that
question. The retraction was about the offrecord reference where President
Mukherjee inadvertently mixed up Sweden
and Switzerland.Sources said the state
visit would be held as scheduled, with Mr.
Mukherjee leaving for Sweden on May 31.
New Delhi said it was disappointed that
the focus of the visit had been shifted from
India-Sweden relations. The only concern
that the government has is that we wanted
the focus to be on the Presidents visit and
not on a story that is very old in India. We
wanted to focus on India-Sweden relations
in the present, a Ministry source said.
Suggestions on land Bill welcome: Modi

Amendments to the land acquisition Bill in
the interests of farmers, poor, villages and
the nation will be accepted, said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to the land Bill on which he had
been charged by the Opposition with
favouring corporates, he said the subject of
land was not with the Central government.
All rights relating to land were with the
States.
In a wide-ranging interview to PTI, Mr.
Modi also hit back at Congress president
Sonia Gandhi for her sharp attacks, and
said she had been an unconstitutional
authority exercising real power over the
Prime Ministers Office during UPA rule
whereas power was now wielded only by
constitutional means.
Dismissing criticism of his frequent foreign
trips, he said all recent surveys show that
the highest approval rating is for our
foreign policy.
Centre-AAP spat reaches Supreme Court
The Union Home Ministry moved the
Supreme Court against the observations
made by the Delhi High Court terming
suspect its May 21 notification on the
powers of the Lieutenant-Governor even as
the Delhi Assembly described the
notification as a dangerous precedent
arming the Lieutenant-Governor with
absolute powers over a popularly elected
State government.
The Assembly saw heated debates over two
days of a special session convened by the
Arvind Kejriwal government before the
Sense of the House resolution was
adopted.
The Home Ministry filed a Special Leave
Petition in the Supreme Court challenging
14

the stinging remarks made by the Delhi
High Court in a May 25 order as
unconstitutional.
Pranab exposed Raja, Behura in 2G scam:
Baijal
The former Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India (TRAI) Chairman Pradip Baijal has
in a self-published book, The Complete
Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power and
Private Enterprise A Practitioners Diary
, has alleged that it was Pranab Mukherjee,
as Union Finance Minister, who had
exposed the two accused in the 2G Scam,
former Telecom Minister A. Raja and
former Telecom Secretary Siddharth
Behura.
Further, Mr. Baijal has written that in his
view, a report by Mr. Mukerjee dated
March 25, 2011, when he was the UPA
governments
Finance
Minister,
conclusively proved that the then Prime
Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the then
Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, were
working together with Raja However,
as is often the case in India, only Raja and
Siddharth Behura were held responsible.
Relief for Greenpeace, can operate 2
accounts
In a major relief to Greenpeace India, the
Delhi High Court allowed the NGO to
operate two of its domestic bank accounts
and liquidate its existing fixed deposits. It
can receive fresh donations or contributions
from within the country.
Additional Solicitor-General Sanjay Jain,
representing the Home Affairs Ministry,
reiterated his earlier statement that
Greenpeace India had violated the Foreign
Contribution Regulation Act by merging its
foreign donations with domestic ones.
He said the NGO had not revealed to the
court that there was a statutory remedy

available under which around 25 per cent
of the non-utilised amount in the FCRA
account could be used with government
approval. The global NGO had applied for
the benefit under this rule, but it did not
reveal that to the court in its application.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the
government to decide on the application
within four weeks.
Mr. Jain said the government was unaware
that the NGO had fixed deposits,
something that had been revealed only
through the petition made in the court.
The judge said the source of the fixed
deposits could be traced by the government
during its probe. The court pulled up the
banks for denying access to Greenpeace
despite an earlier order allowing them to
use the accounts. Do you go by orders of
the court or that of the government, asked
the judge.
Germany still hopeful of selling
Eurofighters to India
Even as India and France begin
negotiations to conclude a deal for direct
purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets, Germany
is still actively pushing for the sale of
Eurofighter Typhoon jets to India.
The matter came up for discussion between
visiting German Defence Minister Ursula
von der Leyen and her Indian counterpart
Manohar Parrikar in addition to
cooperation on submarines.
I talked of Eurofighter and [HDW]
submarines in my discussions with Mr.
Parrikar, Ms. Leyen told The Hindu on the
sidelines of her talk organised by the
Observer Research Foundation on
Wednesday. This assumes importance as
Mr. Parrikar had on several occasions
indicated the possibility of procuring
15
another fighter aircraft, in addition to the

36 Rafale jets and Light Combat Aircraft
(LCA), to make up for the shortfall in
fighter strength of the Air Force.
Germany is one of the contenders for the
Navys new line of six submarines under
Project-75I estimated at over Rs.50,000
crore to be built by an Indian shipyard
under technology transfer. Asked about the
Make in India initiative, Ms. Leyen
expressed willingness to collaborate on
manufacturing of submarines.
You dont want only to buy, but you want
a close cooperation by manufacturing and
producing parts in India too, which I think
is a very smart approach for both sides as
close cooperation between strategic
partners should never be a one way
cooperation or collaboration, she said.
Calling India and Germany natural
partners, Ms. Leyen in her discussions
with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had
strongly pitched for deepening
cooperation, particularly in the fields of
cyberspace and maritime security.
On Chinas increased assertions on the high
seas, she said there was humongous
interest of all nations dependent on
economic trade to have an open sea and
observed: We have to [be] very sensitive,
and sensible too, about any attempts to
dominate or close trade routes
India to set up IT listening posts in

Bangladesh
The signing of a memorandum of
understanding for the setting up of
Information Technology centres in
Bangladesh is expected to be announced
during the two-day visit of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi beginning June 6.
Apart from imparting training to the
Bangladesh police forces in the use of
modern technologies, it is learnt that the

centres would operate as a hub for
intelligence gathering and detecting cyberbased offences, including terror activities
and intrusions.
The plan for establishing the IT centres took
shape during the visit of an Indian
delegation of senior government officials
to Bangladesh last year. In a joint statement
on the first meeting of the India-Bangladesh
Joint Consultative Commission in May
2012, India had announced to set up IT labs
in 64 model schools and IT centres at the
Military Institute for Science & Technology,
Bangladesh Public Administration
Training Centre and Bangladesh Police
Academy.
Both countries have been working in close
coordination, particularly in the areas of
counter-terrorism and cross-border
organised crimes. It is one of the initiatives
on our part to further strengthen the
security infrastructure of our friendly
neighbour, said a government official.
A recent example of the increased level of
cooperation between the two countries in
security affairs is information exchange on
the Bardhaman blast case being probed by
the National Investigation Agency in India.
A close coordination between the security
agencies on both sides has led to several
arrests.
As part of the agreement, Indian agencies
would assist their Bangladeshi
counterparts in constructing buildings
from where the IT centres would function.
They are also expected to provide the
necessary equipment for the centres.
According to sources, the government
plans to rope in cyber experts from various
enforcement agencies to impart training to
Bangladeshi security forces.
16

India tops world hunger list with 194
million people
India is home to the highest number of
hungry people in the world, at 194 million,
surpassing China, according to United
Nations annual hunger report.
At the global level, the corresponding
figure dropped to 795 million in 2014-15,
from 1 billion in 1990-92, with East Asia
led by China accounting for most of the
reductions, UN body Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) said in its report titled
The State of Food Insecurity in the World
2015. India too saw a reduction between
1990 and 2015, it added. In 1990-92, those
who were starved of food in India
numbered 210.1 million, which came down
to 194.6 million in 2014-15.
India has made great strides in reducing
the proportion of food insecure persons in
the overall population, but according to
FAO, it still has over 194 million hungry
persons. Indias numerous social
programmes are expected to continue to
fight hunger and poverty, the report
stated.
However, China stood out as the reduction
in the number of hungry people was much
higher than in India, which came down to
133.8 million in 2014-15 from 289 million
in 1990-92.
A majority 72 out of 129 of the
countries monitored by FAO have achieved
the Millennium Development Goal target
of
halving the
prevalence
of
undernourishment by 2015, with
developing regions as a whole missing the
target by a small margin, the report said.
Talking of noticeable progress, the report
made a specific mention of Latin America
and the Caribbean, southeast and central
Asia as well as some parts of Africa. The
overall analysis suggested that inclusive

economic growth, agricultural investments
and social protection, along with political
stability, can eradicate hunger, the report
added.
Mamata to join Modi on Bangla trip
In a significant development which may
have far-reaching political and bilateral
implications, West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee decided to accompany
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his
visit to Bangladesh next month.
The decision follows a formal request from
the Centre.
Speaking, Trinamool Congress secretary
general and States Education Minister
Partha Chatterjee said that the visit of Chief
Minister would further strengthen the
countrys ties with Bangladesh.
Kejriwal government claims unfettered right
to run Delhi
While the Centre claimed supremacy to
administer the National Capital Territory
before the Supreme Court, the Delhi High
Court saw the Arvind Kejriwal government
claim unfettered right to run Delhi as its
popularly elected government.
Multiple arenas of litigation opened up in
the highest courts with both the Centre and
the Delhi government simultaneously
approaching the Supreme Court and the
High Court after days of impasse over who
actually is constitutionally empowered to
administer the National Capital Territory.
The immediate trigger for the identical
litigation came in the form of a May 25
order by a single judge of the Delhi High
Court calling a May 21 notification by the
Ministry of Home Affairs suspect for
giving the Lieutenant-Governor absolute
powers over appointments, postings and
17
transfers of senior officials as well as

matters relating to the police and public
order. The notification also denied the
Delhi governments Anti-Corruption
Branch power to probe and prosecute
Central government employees for
offences of corruption.
The Supreme Court and the High Court
have scheduled hearings.
No intention to run govt. through L-G:
Rajnath
Responding to the allegations of Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the
Centre had no intention to run the State
government through the LieutenantGovernor.
We do not have any objection to the
working of the State government.
However, upholding Constitutional
provisions is also our responsibility, said
Mr. Singh at a press conference, in reply to
a question on the ongoing stand-off
between the Delhi government and
Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung.
With the AAP scaling up the battle on
issues surrounding the core demand for full
Statehood, the Home Minister said the
Centre had not yet given a thought on
extending the status to Delhi.
Asked how the Centre intended to deal
with the situation if the AAP took to the
streets, Mr. Singh said it would have to
intervene if any law and order issue arose.
Law and order is my duty, he said.
Through a notification on May 21, the
MHA conferred powers on the LieutenantGovernor to appoint bureaucrats and also
restrained the Anti-Corruption Branch
under the Delhi government from taking
action against any Central government
employee.
P.K. Sinha appointed Cabinet Secretary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved
the appointment of Pradeep Kumar Sinha,
a 1977 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh
cadre, as the next Cabinet Secretary.
Mr. Sinha, who has been serving as Power
Secretary since July 2013, will succeed Ajit
Seth whose term ends on June 13. He will
soon be attached to the Cabinet Secretariat
as OSD till the commencement of his
tenure.
Singapore to host first International Yoga
Day on June 21
Singapore will host the first edition of
International Day of Yoga on June 21 at
about 50 locations across the country.
Supporting the 5,000-year-old physical,
mental and spiritual practice that aims to
transform body and mind, High
Commissioner Vijay Thakur Singh
launched a web portal for online
registration of Singapore participants for
the mega event.
We are expecting thousands of
participants from all walks of life, Mr.
Singh told.
The yoga centres include one each at
Changi airport, Ion Orchard mall,
dormitories of Indian nationals working
here, schools, universities and centres
operated by Peoples Association, the
leading grassroots body which has joined
in hosting the Yoga Day with the High
Commission.
Indian firms in Singapore have also joined
the celebrations and would be hosting
sessions within their own network.
The U.N. adopted an India-led resolution
declaring June 21 as International Day of
Yoga in December last year, less than three
months after Prime Minister Narendra
Modi proposed the idea.
18

The resolution was overwhelmingly co
sponsored and adopted in the world body,
recognising that Yoga provides a holistic
approach to health and wellbeing.
U.S. Defence Secretary coming

US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter will
be on his first visit to India as Secretary on
June 2 during which both sides will renew
the Defence Framework Agreement (DFA)
for another ten years and boost cooperation
in carrier and jet engine technology.
The first agreement signed in 2005 is set to
expire next month.
And the 2015 U.S.-India Defence
Framework I will sign next week will open
up this relationship on everything from
maritime security to aircraft carrier and jet
engine technology cooperation, Mr. Carter
said while addressing the ongoing ShangriLa dialogue in Singapore .
Mr. Carter will visit Vizag, the
headquarters of the Eastern Naval
Command, before heading to Delhi for
discussions with his Indian counterpart
Manohar Parrikar.
PUCL plea in SC questions delay in

implementation
The Centres resolve to rid the country of
hunger will be tested with a petition being
filed in the Supreme Court challenging the
year-long delay in implementing the Right
to Food Act and validity of three
administrative directions issued by the
government, postponing food and cash
entitlements from reaching the poor.
A petition filed by the Peoples Union for
Civil Liberties (PUCL), asks the Supreme
Court to intervene with the government for
the implementation of the National Food
Security Act, 2013, and publication of the
final lists of Socio-Economic Caste Census
2011 to identify priority and Antodaya

Anna Yojana (AAY) households under the
Act.
The PUCL, represented by senior advocate
Colin Gonsalves, contended that the 2013
Act was supposed to be implemented by
July 5, 2014, but three successive
administrative instructions on June 30 and
October 14, 2014, and March 24 this year
had delayed it.
Besides, a period not exceeding 365 days
was given to the State governments to
identify the eligible households for
foodgrain entitlements. This deadline
expired on July 4, 2014.
The PUCL petition in 2001 for enforcement
of the poors right to food had seen the
Supreme Court pass repeated directions to
the government to provide food security.
The litigation had largely influenced the
2013 Act, according to the fresh petition.
The petition highlights several pitfalls for
the apex court to consider in the
governments proposals to implement the
Act.
Section 4(b) of the Act requires that
pregnant and lactating women be paid a
cash benefit of a minimum of Rs. 6,000
through the Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog
Yojana (IGMSY). The petition said a revised
proposal for IGMSY is with the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs. As per the
proposal, IGMSY would reach all districts
only by 2016-17, and that too if financial
resources permit.
In the second instance, the Act wants free
meals to be provided through anganwadis
to pregnant and lactating women and
children up to the age of six years. The
government proposes to do this through
the existing Integrated Child Development
Scheme, which has low coverage.
Again, the Act entitles children aged
between six and 14 to have cooked meals
19
at government schools. The government

proposes to do this through the prevalent
mid-day meal scheme. However, the
petition said, 3.9 crore of the 13.9 crore
children under this scheme are deprived
of this entitlement.
It said both schools and anganwadi
buildings suffer in terms of lack of basic
infrastructure like kitchens, drinking water,
sanitation
facilities
for
proper
implementation of the statutes objectives.
INS Vikrant undocking postponed
Siltation and a minor technical glitch in
lowering the building bay dock gate, which
was last operated when the maiden
indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was
taken in post-launch for the second phase
of work a year-and-a-half ago, have forced
the Cochin Shipyard to defer the undocking
of the carrier.
The aircraft carrier was to have been
undocked on completion of structural
work.
Flooding of the dock and ballasting of the
carrier, weighing about 26,000 tonnes
minus the ballast, had begun.
However, unfavourable tide and a bit of
siltation at the dock mouth besides a minor
glitch with the dock gate forced the
undocking to be put off. Sources said the
carrier would continue to be outfitted for
over a year-and-a-half after undocking
when the second phase of construction
would draw to a close.
The yard considers this to be the most
challenging phase during which cabling,
piping, accommodation facility, air
conditioning and ventilation systems
would be done.
Once complete, the carrier will have some
2,300 compartments.
Govt. for re-promulgation of land ordinance

The Union Cabinet has recommended repromulgation of the controversial land
acquisition ordinance for the third time in
five months.
The decision has immediately drawn a
sharp response from the Congress and the
CPI (M), who along with other Opposition
parties, have been stalling the Bills passage
in the Rajya Sabha.
Opposition leaders stressed that it was
improper to recommend re-promulgation
of the ordinance as a 30-member Joint
Committee of Parliament was currently
deliberating on changes sought to be made
in the Land Acquisition Act, 2013.
While CPI (M) MP and a member of the
Joint Committee Mohammad Salim said
it was improper to push for repromulgation during the pendency of the
Committee, Congress communication chief
Randeep Surjewala said: It is an affront to
Parliament that refused to put its stamp of
approval [on the Bill].
But the NDA government spokesperson
and Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad, announcing the decision, said the
Cabinet
had
recommended
repromulgation of the ordinance to ensure
continuity so that farmers dont face
hardships on compensation as, otherwise,
it would have lapsed on June 4.
Ex-Odisha CM Gamang quits Congress
Nine-time Congress MP and former Odisha
Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang quit the
party alleging humiliation and appeared to
send signals that he was keen on joining
the BJP.
Announcing his decision at a press
conference, he came out with an
explanation that his vote did not lead to the
fall of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government
in 1999.
20

I have sent my resignation letter to AICC
president Sonia Gandhi. Since the time of
the Vajpayee governments fall due to one
vote in 1999, I have been humiliated.
Though I voted against the Vajpayee
government in the wake of a whip, the
party did not come to my rescue at any
time, Mr. Gamang told reporters.
U.P. sues Nestle for excess lead in Maggi
With the row over Maggi noodles
escalating, the Food Safety and Drug
Administration of the U.P. government has
filed a case against the manufacturing
company, Nestle India Ltd., and five others,
including the Barabanki store from where
samples with excess lead were seized.
The case was filed in the court of the
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate
(ACJM), Barabanki, under the Food Safety
and Standards Act, 2006.
The move comes after tests on the samples
of two-minute Maggi noodles of the March
2014 batch found the presence of lead in
excess of the permissible limit.
Monosodium glutamate too was more.
Modi to be first
Indian PM in Israel
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel
to Israel, making him the first Indian
Premier to visit the country, External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.
Addressing a press conference to recount
the achievements of the External Affairs
Ministry in the past year, Ms. Swaraj said
the PMs dates were not confirmed, but
that they were being worked out.
Sources told the visit could happen this
year itself, with a high-level Indian team
travelling to Tel Aviv in July for discussions
on several bilateral issues.
Ms. Swaraj also said she would visit Israel,
Palestine and Jordan later this year, and

will travel to Tehran in June for the NonAligned Ministerial meet.
However, officials said there is no decision
yet on whether Mr. Modi will attend the
NAM summit in Caracas, Venezuela in
September this year.
Kolkata-DhakaAgartala bus trial run
The trial run of the much-awaited KolkataDhaka-Agartala bus service will begin .
The service, aimed at easy movement of
people of two Indian States separated by
Bangladesh, is likely to be inaugurated
when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits
Dhaka on June 6 and 7.
This is the first bus service to connect the
two north-eastern States through
Bangladesh. The Dhaka-Kolkata service
was introduced in 1999 and the one
between Dhaka and Agartala in 2003.
The cross-Bangladesh service was
approved at a recent meeting between
Bangladesh Road Transport Minister
Obaidul Quader and his Indian counterpart
Nitin Gadkari in New Delhi. It had been
sought for long by the people of Tripura
and other adjoining States for travelling
through Bangladesh without changing
vehicles. It takes nearly three days to travel
from Kolkata to Agartala, the capital of
Tripura, a 1,650-km distance by land. Now,
the journey will take less than 24 hours.
The two countries recently completed a
trial run of the Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati
service. It is also expected to be opened
during Mr. Modis visit.
Pranab in Sweden,
key pacts to be signed
President Pranab Mukherjee arrived on the
first leg of his five-day state visit to Sweden
21
and Belarus, the first ever by any Indian

head of State, during which a number of
key agreements on sustainable
development, scientific research are likely
to be signed.
On his arrival, Mr. Mukherjee was received
by Crown Princess Victoria at the Arland
airport. Later, he was received at the Royal
Mews by the King Carl XVI Gustaf and
Queen Silvia from where he was taken on
a horse-drawn cortege to the Royal Palace,
where the traditional welcoming ceremony
took place.
Earlier in New Delhi, he was given a
ceremonial send-off at Rashtrapati Bhavan
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice
President Hamid Ansari, Delhi Lieutenant
Governor Najeeb Jung, External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley and the three Service Chiefs.
During his three-day State visit in Sweden,
the President will meet Prime Minister
Stefan Lofven, the Speaker of the Swedish
Parliament, and the Leader of Opposition,
Anna Kinberg Batra besides number of
meetings with the King and the Queen.
The visit will focus on innovation,
sustainable
development,
urban
development and scientific research with
both countries exploring ways to enhance
mutual exchange in the areas of trade and
science.
Corporates ignore
Clean School call
The Narendra Modi government has been
facing accusations of being corporatefriendly, but it seems to be a one-way
street when it comes to the corporates
loosening their purse strings to contribute
to the Swachh Vidyalaya (Clean School)
campaign.
According to the progress report card of
the Swachh Vidyalaya, Swachh Bharat
(Clean School, Clean India) campaign,

prepared by the Union Human Resource
Development Ministry, only 16 corporates,
big and small, have shown some interest
in the endeavour. Between them, they have
taken up the responsibility of 5,134 toilets,
building them or repairing dysfunctional
ones.
Some corporate funding could have gone
into the Swachh Bharat Kosh, as the
guidelines provide the option of indirectly
financing the endeavour through the fund.
But the corporate involvement in the
campaign is small given that the Kosh is
supporting only 5,345 of the 4,19,092 toilets
which need to be built or repaired. This,
despite Mr. Modi making an appeal in his
first Independence Day address last year
to corporates to dip into their CSR
(Corporate Social Responsibility) funds to
help the national campaign. The
corporates involvement is in sharp
contrast to the Public Sector Undertakings
(PSUs). In all, 69 PSUs have taken up the
responsibility of 1,66,255 toilets across the
country.
The completion rate in both cases is way
off the mark; given that the Prime Minister
had set this years Independence Day as the
target for ensuring that no school in India
is without separate functional toilets for
boys and girls.
Of the 5,134 toilets that the corporates have
pledged money for, only 242 have been
completed. The bulk of the work the
corporates have taken upon themselves is
building new toilets 1,820 for boys and
1,920 for girls of which 136 boys toilets
and 106 girls toilets have been completed.
Karnataka to move
SC in Jaya case
The Karnataka Cabinet decided to file an
appeal in the Supreme Court against the
22
Karnataka High Courts verdict acquitting

AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa
and three others in the disproportionate
assets case.
The Cabinet also decided that senior
advocate B.V. Acharya would be special
counsel to argue the case before the apex
court, while Mr. Sandesh J Chouta will
assist him.
It is inevitable for us to file an appeal
before the Supreme Court as Karnataka has
been declared as the sole prosecuting
agency by the Supreme Court with respect
to the disproportionate assets case. We
have to execute our responsibility properly
by filing the appeal, Law Minister T.B.
Jayachandra told reporters after the
Cabinet meeting.
However, the Cabinets decision was taken
only after strong and repeated advice
from the Advocate-General of the State
who had said that it would be a travesty
of justice if Karnataka did not file an
appeal. Legal experts had accused the State
government of delaying a decision.
The Law Department, Mr. Acharya and the
Advocate-General had all advised the State
to file an appeal, Mr. Jayachandra said.
Vijai Sharma
tipped to be new CIC
The
senior-most
Information
Commissioner, Vijai Sharma, is tipped to
be the new Chief Information
Commissioner, while the former Chairman
of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, K.V.
Chowdary, is understood to be in the
running for the post of Central Vigilance
Commissioner.
The names are understood to have been
cleared at the meetings Prime Minister
Narendra Modi had with the leader of the
largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha,
Mallikarjun Kharge.
While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
attended the meeting on the selection of
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC),
Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended the
one on Central Vigilance Commissioner
(CVC). Minister of State for Personnel
Jitendra Singh was present at the meetings.
Sources indicated that Mr. Sharma, 64,
could be named as Chief Information
Commissioner, a post that has been lying
vacant for over nine months.
Mr. Chowdary, 61, is said to be the top
contender for the other post, while the
acting CVC, Rajiv, is also in the running,
the sources said.
The panels have met and their
recommendations have been sent to the
Presidents office. All the names against the
vacant posts have been sent to the
President. I cannot tell you the names. The
meeting was confidential, Mr. Kharge said
after the meeting.
Asked whether there was any
disagreement on the names, he said there
was no question of agreement or
disagreement as of now.
A formal announcement will be made after
President Pranab Mukherjee gives his
assent. The President is away on a five-day
visit abroad and will return.
Sources said there were 203 applicants for
Chief Information Commissioner and 553
for Information Commissioners. Under the
RTI Act, the CIC has one chief and 10
Information Commissioners.
In the CVC, the term of Central Vigilance
Commissioner Pradeep Kumar ended on
September 28 last year, while Vigilance
Commissioner J.M. Garg completed his
tenure on September 7.
The government received about 130
applications for the two vacant posts at the
23
anti-corruption watchdog, they said.

Bollywood actors land in a soup for
endorsing Maggi
Amid the controversy over the alleged
violation of food safety standards by
instant noodles brand, Maggi, Union Food
Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said all players,
including Bollywood actors who have
endorsed the product, are liable for action
under the Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) norms.
Three Bollywood actors Madhuri Dixit,
Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta have
endorsed the product in the past few years.
The FSSAI has decided to test more
samples of Maggi, collected from different
States, in the wake of the Uttar Pradesh
Food and Drug Administration finding
excess levels of lead and mono-sodium
glutamate, normally used as a flavour
enhancer, in the product.
Mr. Paswan said a report on the alleged
violation by the manufacturer is expected
in two to three days.
He said action can be initiated by the
government against the manufacturer
(Nestle-India), advertising agency,
promoters/endorsers if an unfair trade
practice complaint is lodged with the
National Consumer Court.
A complaint can also be filed with Cable
Television Network (Regulation)
Amendment Act for putting out a
misleading advertisement.
Additional Secretary (Consumer Affairs) G.
Gurucharan said the manufacturer and
promoter are liable to be fined and asked
to put out corrective advertisements. The
brand ambassadors are also liable for
action, but the decision will be taken by
courts, he added.
The government is setting up an authority,
under the Department of Consumer

Affairs, which will suo motu take
cognisance of such claims.
Corporate houses, however, said the
governments move to make brand
ambassadors liable for violation by the
product would be stretching it too far.
Gujarat officers to be commerce, power
secretaries
In a major reshuffle, the government made
17 Secretary-level appointments.
Two Gujarat-cadre IAS officers will take
over as Commerce and Power Secretaries.
Pradeep Kumar Pujari, a 1981-batch officer,
has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of
Power. He is currently Special Secretary
and Financial Adviser, Department of
Agricultural Research and Education. He
will replace Pradeep Kumar Sinha, who
was recently appointed Cabinet Secretary.
Rita A. Teaotia, also from the 1981-batch
and currently Special Secretary,
Department of Telecommunications, has
been named Secretary, Department of
Commerce.
I&B Ministry asked to review DD News
heads appointment
Caught on the back foot for the second time
in just over a month, the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry is under pressure to
take a fresh look at the appointment of
Veena Jain as Director-General of
Doordarshan News.
This follows a meeting between Surya
Prakash, Chairman of the Prasar Bharati
Corporation, and Information and
Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley.
It is learnt that Mr. Prakash flagged the
issue of autonomy as the Ministry
appointed Ms. Jain without consulting the
Prasar Bharati Board.
24

Oppn. members may quit House panel on
Land Bill
Upset over the re-promulgation of the land
acquisition ordinance when the Bill to
replace it is under parliamentary scrutiny,
some Opposition members on the Joint
Committee of Parliament examining the
draft legislation are toying with the idea of
boycotting it.
At least three members from different
parties confirmed that they were in touch
with one another and would take a decision
on whether or not to participate in the work
next week.
Both options to boycott or to continue
are on the table, a member said. But
the Trinamool Congress has decided to
fight it from within.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury
said in Hyderabad that the party was
actively considering withdrawing from
the committee.
Mohammad Salim, the party member on
the panel, said the Opposition members
were in consultation with one another as
the re-promulgation of the ordinance at this
juncture was unacceptable.
The CPI(M) would take a final decision at
its central committee meeting here in the
coming weekend, after consulting other
Left parties, he said.
E-visa for Swedish nationals soon: Pranab

India will soon extend e-visa facility to
Swedish nationals, President Pranab
Mukherjee said as he invited the Nordic
country to be a part of governments
flagship programmes like the Make in
India initiative.
Addressing a seminar on India and
Sweden: co-creating a brighter future, Mr.
Mukherjee said, If India and Sweden

pooled their innovative energies to address
the challenges that India faces, the solutions
that they come up with may benefit not just
the two countries but the whole world.
Ahead of the seminar, the President met
the CEOs of the Swedish companies where
he asked them to invest in India.
The CEOs told the President that they were
eagerly awaiting the outcome of
governments decision on Goods and
Services Tax (GST).
The GST bill was introduced in Parliament
and is at present pending before the
standing committee.
The CEOs also told the President that they
wanted to expand manufacturing base in
India and make use of the programmes like
Make in India and also export to a third
country from India.
During the seminar, Mr. Mukherjee spoke
about the changed political atmosphere in
India and said an atmosphere has been
created which is business friendly besides
carrying out reforms in the policies.
I am pleased to inform you all that Sweden
will feature in the list of countries to be soon
granted the e-tourist visa facility which
would greatly facilitate travel for Swedish
nationals who can come and explore
Incredible India with all its beauty,
diversity, richness of culture, traditions,
history and more, Mr. Mukherjee said.
Four vehicles in Mr. Mukherjees convoy
collided while moving from Stockholm to
Uppsala University, leaving one protocol
officer with minor injuries.
The President drove to Uppsala University
where he spoke on Tagore and Gandhi:
Do they have Contemporary Relevance for
Global Peace?
25
Knowledge network to be open to all

SAARC nations
India is in the process of extending its
National Knowledge Network to all
members of the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to
allow students unimpeded access to digital
libraries and network resources, External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.
At the groundbreaking ceremony of South
Asian University (SAU) here, Ms. Swaraj
said the Ministry was carrying out the
instructions of the Prime Minister to have
the university connect with at least one
university in every SAARC nation.
As Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi said
in his speech at the 18th SAARC summit,
Indias vision for the region rests on the
pillars of trade, investment, assistance,
cooperation, people-to-people contacts and
connectivity. In the coming days and years,
we will work assiduously to make the
region more connected and more
prosperous, Ms. Swaraj said.
At the 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka, India
offered to host the SAU. The university,
mooted as one dedicated to the region, has
had its share of teething troubles, mainly
on account of financial constraints.
While India has offered to pay the capital
cost of $198 million for its establishment,
apart from providing close to 40 hectares
for the campus, Pakistan is yet to pay its
share. In 2014, a Parliamentary Standing
Committee asked the Ministry to expedite
the process of seeking funds from Pakistan.
Its report said the neighbouring nation
owed $7.8 million towards the project since
2010.
A SAU official told that the issue had been
raised with Pakistan and the process of
reclaiming the dues initiated.
All other members have been paying their

share. We have taken up the issue with
Pakistan, and it is being sorted out.
Earlier, there used to be no representatives
of Pakistan present on the governing board;
that too has changed now, the official said.
Law unclear if celebrities endorsing food
products can be prosecuted
The Maggi controversy has opened a
Pandoras box on the legal liability of
celebrities who endorse food products even
as it exposes ambiguities in the Food Safety
and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, making
the current debate an opportunity to
interpret judicially the role and liability of
brand ambassadors.
There is no specific word in the Act about
the extent, or lack, of liability or duty of
care of the brand ambassador, who signs
on to promote the brand as its face and
takes on the role of a marketing
representative. Sections 24 and 53 in the
2006 Act deal specifically with
advertisements.
Section 24(1) says in general terms that no
advertisement shall be made of any food
which is misleading or deceiving or
contravenes the provisions of this Act, the
rules and regulations made there under.
Here, it does not explain whether the term
made is only confined to commissioning
the advertisement or its actual making. In
the latter case, a brand ambassador does
play a part.
One of the primary statutory objectives of
the FSSA is to ensure availability of safe
and wholesome food for human
consumption and it makes the promoter,
manufacturer, packer, wholesaler,
distributor, seller and even the manager
of a food business outlet liable for
violations, including unfair trade practice
in several instances.
26

Bangladesh.
BSF may take over security along IndiaMyanmar border

The back-to-back attacks on security forces
in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh in the
past week have prompted the Union
government to reconsider the Union Home
Ministrys long-standing demand for
handing over the India-Myanmar border
to the Border Security Force, Ministry
sources said.
Khaplang Pangmi, chairman of the
Myanmar-based NSCN(K); Kughalu
Molatonu, general secretary; Alezo
Chakesang from Nagaland, information
secretary; and other senior members of
group and its affiliate organisations have
been named in the first information report
filed by the National Investigation Agency
in the Manipur case.
The Army has initiated an internal inquiry
into procedural and intelligence lapses in
the Manipur attack. Well before
reinforcements reached the ambush spot in
Manipur and the Assam Rifles sealed the
1,643-km border, the suspected
NSCN(Khaplang) group militants crossed
over to Myanmar. Within three days, the
insurgents struck at an Assam Rifles camp
at Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh.
Over the years, Assam Rifles has not been
that effective in containing cross-border
smuggling and infiltration attempts by
insurgent groups such as the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang),
the United National Liberation Front, the
Peoples Liberation Army of Manipur and
the Peoples Revolutionary Party of
Kangleipak. These outfits have set up
camps in Myanmar, a government official
said.
The Defence Ministry last year agreed to
hand over the border to the BSF, which also
mans the borders with Pakistan and
Code of conduct is in place, focus on LAC

clarification, Beijing told
The Special Representatives of India and
China are engaged in a lengthy process of
negotiations to define the final frontiers
between the two countries.
Indias reassertion on the need to clarify the
Line of Actual Control (LAC) follows
observations by Huang Xilian, a senior
official in the Asia department of the
Chinese foreign ministry that India and
China had tried to clarify (the LAC) some
years ago but we encountered some
difficulties which led to even complex
situation. On the contrary, the Chinese
official seemed to favour the expansion of
the code of conduct along the borders.
But countering this observation, the sources
said that the code of conduct has already
been fully elaborated in the CBM protocol
along the LAC that was signed by the two
sides on April 11, 2005.
The wide ranging protocol covers all the
conceivable contingencies that may arise
and ways to address them, the sources
observed.
For instance the protocol a detailed
elaboration of the 1996 CBM accord
limits the size and orientation of military
exercises along the LAC, details the
protocol that needs to be followed in case
of an alleged air intrusion, including a flag
meeting within 48 hours of the incident,
and prescribes a code of conduct in case of
an eventuality of eye-ball to eye-ball
military contact in the LAC area.
The sources stressed that the Chinese side
was committed to LAC clarification in the
documents signed between September
1993 to November 2006, but for some
explicable reason have not endorsed the
27
process on paper since 2008.

The sources said that the LAC clarification
process had fully commenced following
the 1996 CBM accord where there was an
agreement to exchange maps indicating the
respective perceptions of the two sides
regarding the entire alignment of the LAC
as soon as possible.
The Middle Sector process of clarification
was broadly completed, but problems
arose in clarifying the Western Sector.
According to an understanding that had
been previously reached, the Eastern Sector
clarification was to subsequently
commence, but the entire process has since
been stalled.
L-G appoints new ACB chief
In what the Delhi Government described
as a bureaucratic coup, a Joint
Commissioner of the Delhi Police was
unilaterally placed at the helm of the AntiCorruption Branch (ACB) by LieutenantGovernor Najeeb Jung.
Seven Inspectors were also transferred to
the anti-graft body against actual
requirement
expressed
by
the
Government, a source said.
Mr. Jung cleared the appointment of
Mukesh Kumar Meena, an IPS officer of the
1989 batch currently in-charge of the New
Delhi Range, without keeping the Chief
Ministers office or the Government in the
loop.
What is the conspiracy behind the sudden
creation of the post of Joint CP (ACB)? One
should remember that the same officer (Mr.
Meena) had penned the bogus script of my
involvement in the suicide of farmer
Gajendra Singh at Jantar Mantar, Deputy
Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted.
The Hindu had reported that close to half
a dozen bureaucrats of the AGMU cadre
were stuck in limbo across the country due

to the impasse between the Delhi
Government and the Union Ministry of
Home Affairs.
Mr. Meena had been
transferred out
of Delhi and was awaiting posting in
Arunachal as per MHA order issued on
April 8.
The anti-graft body is currently headed by
S.S. Yadav, an Additional Commissioner of
Police.
HRD Ministry under fire for choice of Urdu
Council head
Academics at Delhi University have
questioned Human Resource Development
Minister Smriti Iranis choice of Professor
Syed Ali Karim as director of the National
Council for Promotion of Urdu Language,
of which she is the chairperson.
Prof. Karim, an associate professor in the
Urdu Department of Delhi University, was
appointed last week to the Council, which
is an autonomous body under the HRD
Ministry.
Concerns over Prof. Karims appointment
stem from charges including sexual
harassment and financial irregularities
against him.
In the first incident nearly 10 years ago
when Prof. Karim was teaching in the Urdu
Department of Delhi University, a young
research scholar suffered a mental
breakdown, attributed to acute harassment
from him.
The charges of harassment led to the
setting up of a committee as per the
Vishaka guidelines.
Upon examining the allegations, the
committee recommended the following
measures: a warning letter be issued to
Prof. Karim, no female research student be
sent to study under his supervision, and
28

no administrative work be allotted to him.
A member of the committee confirmed that
though a report was sent to the apex
committee of the Urdu Department which
forwarded it to the university authorities
for action, no further action was taken.
The student never recovered from the
mental breakdown.
Chowdary is new CVC; Vijai Singh new CIC
The Modi government appointed former
chairman of the Central Board of Direct
Taxes K.V. Chowdary as the Central
Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and
Information Commissioner (IC) Vijai Singh
as the Chief Information Commissioner
(CIC), filling two vacancies that are key to
the institutional framework for
accountability.
The CVCs appointment is subject to the
approval of the Supreme Court, which is
hearing a public interest litigation petition
for transparency in appointments to the
post and that of vigilance commissioners.
Additionally, counsel for the PIL
petitioners Prashant Bhushan and Ram
Jethmalani have raised objections to Mr.
Chowdarys appointment on the premise
that he does not have a clean record.
As for Mr. Singh, the main question that
Right to Information (RTI) activists are
asking is why the government delayed his
appointment by advertising the post of CIC
if they had to anyway appoint him.
He was the seniormost IC. The
government could have just followed the
practice of elevating the seniormost IC as
CIC when the post fell vacant in August
2014. Why wait 10 months, asked activist
Anjali Bhardwaj.
Add to this fact that Mr. Singh is due to
retire on December 1 this year when he will
turn 65. Another activist Lokesh Batra
pointed out that it took the government 292

days to find a CIC who is left with 174 days
to serve before retirement. At this rate the
government must start looking for the next
CIC from now itself, he said.
Ever since the RTI Act was enacted by the
first UPA government, this was the first
time the CICs post had been vacant,
resulting in a high rate of pendency.
Several RTI applicants were denied
information by key offices like the Prime
Ministers Office and the Defence Ministry.
The CIC is the final adjudicator in such
cases and nothing could be done with these
applications because of the vacancy; even
re-allocation was not possible as only the
CIC can do that, an activist said.
Queen, Haider triumphant at IIFA awards
Vikas Bahls drama Queen and Vishal
Bhardwajs Haider scooped major trophies
at the 16th IIFA awards, including the best
actress honour for Kangana Ranaut.
Queen , a middle class girls self-discovery
journey after getting ditched by her fiance,
and the Shahid-Shraddha Kapoor-starrer
set in Kashmir took home three honours
each.
Shahid, 34, dedicated his award to Vishal
for giving him the opportunity and called
the film a scary one.
I would like to thank Vishal Bhardwaj for
this recognition. A very big thank you to
him for believing in me.
Today I am standing here because of him.
It was a scary film to do because we
thought people will never love and
understand this film, said the actor.
Tabus powerful portrayal of Shahids
mother in the film won her the best
supporting actress award.
Queen won the award for best picture and
story apart from the best actress award.
29
Anurag Kashyap, in a surprising gesture,

lauded fellow director Rajkumar Hirani,
while receiving the best movie award for
Queen.
I dont know what to say. I love you Raju
sir [Rajkumar Hirani]. I dont know how
this film happened and it happened
somehow. When we started the film we
didnt have any money..., he said.
Hirani won the best director for highly
acclaimed PK .
This film fearlessly talked about religion
in the country and I want to thank my
father and mother for it. Like Subhash Ghai,
I also feel a film is incomplete without the
help of technicians and actors, Hirani said.
Deepika Padukone took home the woman
of the year award. The 29-year-old actress
dedicated the honour to all the women
across the globe.
This award is for millions of women, said
the Finding Fanny star.
Bollywoods showman Subhash Ghai was
honoured with the prestigious award for
outstanding contribution to Indian
cinema.
It was presented to him by his Ram Lakhan
stars Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor.
Licences of 4,470 NGOs cancelled
In another round of action against erring
NGOs, the government has cancelled the
licences of 4,470 such entities that
surprisingly included a number of top
universities, the Supreme Court Bar
Association and Escorts Heart Institute,
which bars them from receiving foreign
funds.
The decision to cancel the registration of
these entities under the Foreign
Contribution Regulation Act has been
taken by the Home Ministry after
examination of their activities that
allegedly include non-filing of annual

returns and other anomalies.
All associations were given proper notice
by the Foreigners Division of the Home
Ministry with adequate time to reply before
their FCRA licences were cancelled, official
sources said.
Other prominent organisations whose
FCRA licences were cancelled include
Panjab University, Chandigarh, Gujarat
National Law University, Gargi College,
Delhi, Lady Irwin College Delhi, Vikram
Sarabhai Foundation and Kabir floated by
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia.
Licences of nearly 9,000 NGOs were
cancelled in April last for alleged violation
of the FCRA.
Railways remove chains to speed up trains
Pulling a chain to stop a train will soon be
thing of the past as the Railways has
decided to do away with it, as the facility
is prone to regular misuse and led to loss
of revenue to the public transporter.
Passengers could instead get in direct touch
with the loco pilots in case of an emergency.
They would be provided the contact
number of the drivers.
The Railways have already removed the
chains in existing coaches, officials said.
Communications had been sent to coach
manufacturing units as well.
Chain pulling has been a big menace across
the railway network, especially in States
such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Of
particular concern was its misuse for
nefarious activities.
However, to ensure that genuine
passengers in emergency do not face
trouble, the Railways have decided to
engage staff with walkie-talkie in some
coaches to assist the passengers.
30

Railways to stagger Tatkal booking
To ease pressure during peak hours, the
Railways has decided to stagger booking
of Tatkal tickets by allowing reservations
in AC class from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and nonAC class from 11 a.m.
The new Tatkal booking schedule will
come into effect in the next couple of days,
a senior railway official said.
It is also toying with the idea of giving
refund on cancellation of Tatkal tickets, the
percentage of which would be calculated
based on a time frame.
The public transporter has decided to
rechristen premium trains as Suvidha
trains with an overhaul in the fare structure,
cancellations and bookings, Railway
Member (Traffic) Ajay Shukla said.
Refunds will also be available on
cancellations of tickets of premier trains
and such refunds would go up to 50 per
cent, he said.
Ex-servicemen to continue nationwide
protests over OROP delay
Continuing their pressure on the
government over the delay in
implementing the long-pending One-Rank,
One-Pension (OROP) scheme, exservicemen took out a massive rally in the
national capital and across the country to
express their displeasure. They also
announced indefinite relay hunger strike.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar asked ex-servicemen to have
patience and said the government would
deliver on its promise.
The rally comes after several rounds of
official and backchannel talks failed to
make any headway. The veterans had been
demanding that the government announce
a timeline for implementation of OROP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has

assured us that it will be implemented, but
it has been one year, said Col. (retd.) Anil
Kaul, media adviser to the Indian ExServicemen Movement (IESM).
Maintaining that they were not against the
government, the veterans asserted that, it
was not about money, but it was about
equality and rights.
Speaking at a conference in Jaipur, Mr.
Parrikar asked ex-servicemen to have
patience. I assure you whatever we have
promised that all would be done ... but
some people need to be patient, he said.
Warrant Officer Guru Dayal Singh Saggu,
a 92-year-old veteran who attended the
rally at Jantar Mantar, said, Genuine
requirements of all should be addressed.
He added that he had dedicated his lifetime
for my brethren and would continue to
support the cause of ex-servicemen.
A majority of those present at the rally
signed petitions in blood which they plan
to submit to the President Pranab
Mukherjee. Asked why they were signing
in blood, one retired officer quoted
Subhash Chandra Bose who said Give me
blood and I will give you freedom.
The veterans also reiterated that there was
only one definition on OROP and asked the
government to adhere to it. Mr. Modi had
said in an interview that the delay was
partly due to several definitions and the
government was working to get a
consensus.
India Inc. CEOs sing for a cause
Eleven top executives of India Inc. came
together and sang their favourite songs to
raise funds for the treatment of critically
ill children.
It was a Saturday evening of fun and music
at the ITC Grand Central as Genesis
31
Foundation brought together the CEOs for

the 12th Edition of CEOs Sing for GF Kids.
Over 150 people came together to
contribute to GFs cause and, of course, to
watch the otherwise serious CEOs take the
stage by storm.
Genesis Foundation was established by
Prema Sagar, principal and founder,
Genesis Burston-Marsteller, to provide
medical aid to critically ill children in the
areas of cancer, cardiac disorder, post organ
transplant, thalassemia and extreme
deformities.
Eleven corporate head honchos sang foottapping numbers by Elvis Presley to
Kishore Kumar. Dinesh Mirchandani,
president India, Boyden Global Executive
Search, who has been a part of this initiative
six times, says, You cannot stop talking
about how wonderful this initiative is. If
even one life can be saved its amazing.
I think today is an evening of having fun,
with a solid cause, said Vinit Store, CEO,
Quadron Business Park
Y.M. Deosthalee, Chairman & MD, L&T
Finance Holdings, who performed Mohd.
Rafi and Manna Dey songs, was already
looking forward to the next edition of the
event. All of us who are not professional
singers are re-discovering our talent.
Its a win-win for nearly everybody, said
Mehmood Curmally, MD, Rhythm House.
Since its inception, GF has supported
nearly 650 children in need of medical aid
and support. Proceeds from the fundraiser
will be used for the treatment of eight
critically ill children.
Foreign Airlines Come Under Sexual

Harassment Act:
Delhi HC
The Delhi High Court has said that any
foreign airline having even one office in the
country is bound by the Sexual Harassment

of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
The Court has made this verdict while it
was hearing public interest litigation on
seeking the implementation of the
Vishakha guidelines on sexual harassment
against women at the workplace in the
aviation industry.
This issue came to light when an Indian
woman who was employed with Sri
Lankan Airlines had sought action against
the carrier and its officials for sexual
harassment and thus this matter was
transferred as a PIL to the bench by another
court which was dealing with the plea. This
application was moved by the womans
advocate Ajay Verma to enquire into the
complaint of the petitioner and has pleaded
the court to constitute the committee in the
SriLankan Airlines as per Vishaka
guidelines.
High Court stated that as Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act
2013, is in force there is no need for the
court to issue any direction to comply with
the law. Court said that when the law has
come into force, every airlines including
foreign airlines who are having a place of
work in India and to all such airlines Indian
law may be applicable should and are
required to comply with the law and there
is no need for the court to issue any
direction to any airlines to abide by the law.
High Court further stated that the present
public interest litigation which was
brought before it was being pursued
without regard to the law which is in
existence already and its provision thereof
and so court does not feel it necessary to
entertain this petition and thus dismissed
it.
32

Union Government extended prepaid
mobile service for
two years in J&K, North-East
Pre-paid mobile services in Jammu and
Kashmir and the northeastern States will
be allowed to continue for two more years.
The licence of the telecom operators for
providing pre-paid services in these areas
expires. The existing service license was
about to expire on March 31st.
The decision came after, a high-level
committee headed by Union Home
Secretary L.C. Goyal discussed the matter
and decided to give the nod for
continuance of these pre-paid services. The
Home Ministry also directed to the service
providers that they have to maintain
utmost precaution in issuing SIM cards and
ensure proper verification.
Committee sets up by EC
to allow migrants to vote
Election Commission of India has set up a
committee of senior officers to consider
whether electoral laws can be changed to
empower voters who have migrated to
other States within the country.
The motive behind the constitution of this
committee is to know whether inter-State
migrant voters could retain their names on
the electoral rolls of their native places, and
also, if they could cast their votes through
mechanisms such as postal ballot.
Under the present law, a person can be
enrolled only at the place he is residing. A
migrant has to get himself enrolled in the
new place.
The commission said a person who
migrated can be considered ordinarily
resident in his new place even without
owning or possessing a house there. It said
the law was reasonable as it is now.
In an affidavit filed before the Supreme

Court, the poll body said the committee
was set up despite scepticism about the
need to amend the Representation of the
People Act. The poll body was responding
to a notice issued by the Supreme Court on
January 12, 2015, on a plea made by UAEbased doctor Shamsheer V.P., represented
by senior advocate Dushyant Dave and
advocate Haris Beeran, demanding
electoral reforms to allow inter-State
migrants the voting privileges like postal
ballot, which is accorded to government
servants.
The application filed by Dr. Shamsheer
sought the same voting privileges accorded
to government servants under Section 20(8)
(d) of the Representation of the People Act,
1950, read with Section 60(b) of the
Representation of the People Act 1951,
which allowed them to vote via postal
ballot upon the consent of the Election
Commission.
MHA Renamed Visa Scheme
The Tourist Visa on Arrival-Electronic
Travel Authorisation (TVoA-ETA)
scheme, which was launched last year to
facilitate short-duration visits by travellers
from as many as 44 countries, has now been
renamed e-Tourist Visa to make it clear
that it is not an on-arrival scheme.
The government has issued 1.1 lakh visas
under the new scheme that was launched
on November 27 last year. According to the
MHA, it will be extended to more countries
and airports in a phased manner.
After some Indian embassies raised the
issue with the Home Ministry seeking
change of name, a committee comprising
officials of the Bureau of Immigration,
Home and External Affairs Ministries was
formed to suggest a new name.
33
Indias first of Scorpene Submarines-Kalvari

Undocked
Kalvari, first of the Indian Navys Scorpene
class stealth submarines being built under
the Project 75, under collaboration with M/
s DCNS, France, has been undocked at the
Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL).
Kalvari, its scheduled commissioning in
2016, would lend an enormous fillip to the
Indian Navys underwater capability. The
remaining five boats of the Project 75
would be delivered by the yard to the Navy
by 2020 and would form the core of the
Navys submarine arm for the next two
decades.
The Scorpene submarines would pack a
potent punch. She would be equipped with
anti-ship missiles and long range guided
torpedoes alongwith modern sensor suite.
Features about Scorpene submarine Has superior
stealth capability.
Can undertake various operations including multifarious warfare, Anti-submarine

warfare, Intelligence gathering, mine laying, area surveillance etc.
Ability to launch attack on the enemy
using precision guided weapons.
The attack can be launched from underwater or on surface.
Designed to operate in all theatres including the tropics.
Built using special steel that can withstand high yield stress that can withstand
high hydrostatic force and enabling to
dive deeper.
Equipped with Weapons Launching tubes
(WLT) that can carry weapons on board
and can be easily reloaded at sea.
Vivid Bharti now on FM
Union Minister of Finance, Corporate
Affairs and I&B, Shri Arun Jaitley has
introduced the popular Vividh Bharati
service of the All India Radio from Delhi
on the FM platform. The service would

enable listeners to access rich content across
the AIR range from their mobile phones,
car stereos and the Internet.
The transmission within the minimum
radius of 60 kms would enable the people
to enjoy high quality rich content programs
with utmost clarity transmitted by the
given platform.
Technological
advancement
and
availability on FM Mode would make
Vividh Bharati and other channels of AIR
available on mobile phones, car stereos and
internet. This initiative would also
mainstream the platform with audiences
proactively offering them different
program segments and keeping pace with
contemporary themes on the entertainment
segment.
The audience of Vividh Bharati Service in
Delhi was hithertofore being beamed
through MW only. Now the signal shall be
available through Frequency Modulation
(FM), which has stereophonic sound
quality and has the inbuilt feature of
becoming available on mobile phones and
car stereos. A dedicated 10 KW transmitter
has been installed for the VB Service Delhi.
Vividh Bharati on FM will be available in
Delhi on 100.1 MHz. This is in addition to
its availability on MW 1368 kHz. Two other
existing FM services of AIR are FM
Gold(106.4MHz) and FM Rainbow(102.6
MHz). AIR also has its Local Radio Station
Network in Frequency Modulation.
BHEL commissioned 600 MW Thermal Unit

in Chhattisgarh
State-owned power equipment-maker
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
has commissioned a second 600 MW
thermal unit in Chhattisgarhs Janjgir
Champa District for the Dainik Bhaskar
Power Limited.
34

BHEL is partner in the power development
programme of the state of Chhattisgarh.
With this commissioning of second unit,
BHELs cumulative installed capacity has
increased at 11,400MW in Chhattisgarh and
accounts for 68 per cent share of the total
installed capacity in the state.
National Judicial Appointments
Commission comes into force
Union Government has brought into force
the National Judicial Appointments
Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014 along with
the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act,
2014. In this regard, notification to effect
from 13 April 2015 was issued by the Union
Law Ministry. With this new law the
collegium
system to appoint members to the higher
judiciary has come to an end. Now
President will appoint judges in the
Supreme Court (SC) and 24 High Courts
(HCs) in consultation with the NJAC.
Key Facts of NJAC
The Acts provide for a transparent and

broad-based process of selection of
Judges of the Supreme Court and High
Courts by the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
The NJAC would be chaired by the Chief
Justice of India as in the earlier collegium
system. The NJAC membership would include two senior most Judges of the Supreme Court, the Union Minister of Law
and Justice.
Two eminent persons to be nominated by
a committee of the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Justice of India, and the
Leader of the Opposition in the House of
the People, or if there is no Leader of the
Opposition, then the Leader of the single
largest Opposition Party in the House of
the People.
With a view to ensuring that the composition of the National Judicial Appoint-
ments Commission is inclusive, the Act

provides that one of the eminent persons
shall be nominated from amongst persons
belonging to the Scheduled Caste, the
Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward
Classes, Minorities or Women. The NJAC
will frame its own regulations.
Century Old Indian
Sculpture to Fly Back Home
Indias Parrot Lady is to return home, after
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
handed over to his counterpart, Narendra
Modi, the 800-year-old Indian sandstone
sculpture of a woman holding a parrot.
The sculpture dates back to the 12th
century.It was returned in accordance with
the 1970 UNESCO Convention. The prized
Indian statue was returned at the Library
of Parliament in Ottawa. Mr. Modi in
exchange presented Mr. Harper with a
miniature painting of Guru Nanak Dev
with his disciples.
The three-foot high statue of Parrot Lady
turned up in Canada in 2011 in the
possession of an individual who did not
have proper documentation; it was seized
under the Cultural Property Export and
Import which controls antiquities and other
cultural objects being imported from
foreign states.
TRAI recommends 112 as single emergency
number for India
To facilitate establishment of an efficient
and robust Integrated Emergency
Communication & Response System
(IECRS) in India, the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) has suo-motu
issued
recommen
dations
on
implementation of Single Number based
Integrated Emergency Communication &
Response System (IECRS). These
recommendations have been finalized after
35
wider consultations with the stakeholders.

The Authority had issued a Consultation
Paper titled Universal Single Number
based
Integrated
Emergency
Communication & Response System dated
15th March 2013 for seeking comments of
stakeholders. Since State Governments are
major stakeholders in the entire process of
setting up IECRS, meeting with the
representatives of State Government,
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and
National Disaster Management Authority
(NDMA) was also held at New Delhi.
The salient features of the recommendation are
given below:
(i) Number 112 be adopted as the single

emergency number for India.
(ii) Calls made from a landline or mobile
phone/device to the emergency number
112 will be routed to a Public Safety
Answering Point (PSAP), which are akin
to a call centre. The number of PSAPs in
a State or Union Territory (UT) to be decided by the State Governments/UTs;
however there should be at least one
PSAP in each State/UT.
(iii) The existing emergency calling numbers
100, 101, 102, and 108 help lines to be retained as secondary numbers. The calls
made to the secondary numbers should
be re-routed to 112 for termination with
an announcement to the caller to call 112
as emergency number in future; Once call
to secondary numbers reduce significantly, these numbers can be withdrawn
gradually.
(iv) Access to IECRS to be permitted even
from those mobile/landline phones
where the outgoing call facility has been
debarred or the services is suspended
temporarily.
(v) Calls to the single emergency number
should be prioritized in the cellular mobile networks.
(vi) SMS based access to IECRS should also
be provided.
(vii) All Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) will
have to provide location information and

details or caller to the IECRS. For this purpose four regional database centers, one
in each metro city, to be set up in the country. BSNL to setup and maintain these
regional database centers.
(viii) There should be a multi-sectoral agency
having representations from MHA, Department of Telecommunications (Dot),
Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare (MHFW),
Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and other concerned Centre and State agencies which can coordinate and help in setting up of IECRS in
the country.
(ix) A trial version of PSAP based IECRS
should be put in place as a prototype before full scale implementation.
India Successfully Test Fired NuclearCapable Agni-III Ballistic Missile
India successfully test fired its nuclearcapable Agni-III ballistic missile with a
strike range of more than 3,000 km from
Wheeler Island off Odisha coast.
The indigenously developed surface-tosurface missile was test fired from a mobile
launcher at launch complex-4 of the
Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler
Island by army.
Logistic support for the test was provided
by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO). It was the third
user trial in the Agni-III series carried out
to establish the repeatability of the
missiles performance.
For data analyses, the entire trajectory of
todays trial was monitored through
various telemetry stations, electro-optic
systems and sophisticated radars located
along the coast and by naval ships
anchored near the impact point, the sources
said.
36

The Agni-III missile is powered by a twostage solid propellant system. With a length
of 17 metres, the missiles diameter is 2
metres and launch weight is around 50
tonnes. It can carry a warhead of 1.5 tonne
which is protected by carbon all composite
heat shield.
Vice President Releases a Book India and

the World Through the Eyes of Indian
Diplomats
The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid
Ansari released a book entitled India and
the World Through the eyes of Indian
Diplomats edited by Amb. Surendra
Kumar at a function here today.
Addressing on the occasion, the Vice
President said that the book has been very
rightly described as a Bouquet of 33
Flowers as it is a fair description of
experiences of 33 distinguished diplomats
in a book. These essays are perhaps in 3
categories Narrative; Analytical; and
Argumented. He commended the Editor of
this useful book and hoped that this book
will be read by the young entrants in this
service and the public at large.
The book is a unique treasure of thoughts
and ideas of 33 Indian Diplomats who have
collectively put in more than 1150 years in
Indian Foreign Service, representing three
generations; those who joined in 1950s, in
the 1960s and in the 1970s. All in all, it is a
healthy cocktail of reflections and
reminiscences, hardnosed analysis and
dispassionate interpretation and, of course,
some crystal ball gazing. Amb. Surendra
Kumar founded Indo-American Friendship
Association in 2010.
MHA Suspends
Registration of Greenpeace
Union government has suspended the
registration of Greenpeace India, a non-
profit environmental organization for six

months with immediate effect.
Citing various grounds for the suspension
of the FCRA registration of Greenpeace
India and the freezing of its accounts, the
Union Home Ministry alleged the
organisation did not inform the authorities
concerned about transfer of foreign
contributions received in the designated
account to the FCRA utilisation account
and then to five other accounts.
The MHA also charged the NGO with
incurring over 50 per cent of foreign
donations on administrative expenditure
during 2011-12 and 2012-13 without prior
approval.
Stating that acceptance of foreign
contributions by Greenpeace India has
prejudicially affected the public and the
economic interest of the country in
violation of the Section 12 (4)(f)(iii) and
Section 12(4)(f)(ii) of the FCRA, the
government said the act also amounted to
violation of the conditions of grant of
registration certificate.
Accordingly, the Central government has
suspended the registration of the
organisation, including its branches and
units, under the FCRA, for six months. The
organisation can make a representation in
this regard within 30 days. If Greenpeace
India fails to make a satisfactory
presentation to the Union government in
this regard, its licence may be cancelled
permanently.
India Successfully Test

Fired Dhanush Missile
India successfully test-fired nuclear
weapons-capable Dhanush missile from a
ship, off the Odisha coast. The ship-based
missile was launched by personnel of the
Strategic Forces Command (SFC) from an
37
Offshore Patrolling Vessel (OPV), which

was deep inside the sea, for its full range
of 350 km.
Dhanush, a manoeuvring missile is a naval
variant of Prithvi-II, and can carry a nuclear
payload of 500 kg. It can target both landbased and sea-based targets. The missile
has already been inducted into the armed
services and the SFC personnel randomly
picked up the missile from the production
lot for, which was carried out as part of
regular user training.
Dhanush was one of the five missiles
developed by the DRDO under the
Integrated Guided Missile Development
Programme.
MHA Issues Revise
Norms for Disaster Relief
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
has issued orders on revision norms with
respect of the Centrally notified disasters.
These disasters include tsunami,
earthquake, floods, cyclones, drought,
hailstorm, etc.
Facts about revised norms
Norms related to various aspects of response and preparedness like ex-gratia to

the kins in case of loss of lives, disability
and livelihoods have been revised.
Permitted State governments to use upto
10% of allocation of the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) on equipment. On capacity building, maximum of 5% of SDRF
allocation can be spent.
State Governments also can use upto 10%
of their SDRF allocation on local disasters. In this case the State Executive Committees have to work out the criteria and
modalities.
Procedure for adjustment of available balances under SDRF is simplified while releasing assistance from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) in case of severe disasters.
Automatic annual updation of the norms

by reference with the movement of
wholesale price index (WPI) is also enabled.
Union Cabinet Approves Amendment to
Real Estate (Regulation and Development)
Bill, 2013
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime
Minister has given its approval to
amendments to the Real Estate (Regulation
and Development) Bill, 2013 pending in the
Rajya Sabha, and approved amendments
proposed in the Bill.
The Real Estate (Regulation and
Development) Bill is a pioneering initiative
to protect the interest of consumers, to
promote fair play in real estate transactions
and to ensure timely execution of projects.
The Bill provides for a uniform regulatory
environment, to protect consumer interests,
help speedy adjudication of disputes and
ensure orderly growth of the real estate
sector. The Bill contains provisions of
registration of real estate projects and
registration of real estate agents with the
Real Estate Regulatory Authority; functions
and duties of promoters and allottees;
establishment of Real Estate Regulatory
Authority; establishment of fast track
dispute resolution mechanism through
adjudication; establishment of a Real Estate
Appellate Tribunal; offences and penalties
etc.
The Bill ensures mandatory disclosure by
promoters to customers through
registration of real estate projects as well
as real estate agents with the Real Estate
Regulatory Authority. The Bill aims at
restoring confidence of the general public
in the real estate sector; by instituting
transparency and accountability in real
estate and housing transactions. This in
turn will enable the sector to access capital
38

and financial markets essential for its long
term growth. The Bill will promote orderly
growth through consequent efficient
project execution, professionalism and
standardization.
The salient features
of the Bill are as under:
a. Applicability of the Bill: The proposed initial Bill was applicable for residential real
estate. It is now proposed to cover both
residential and commercial real estate;
b. Establishment of Real Estate Regulatory
Authority: Establishment of one or more
Real Estate Regulatory Authority in each
State/ Union Territory (UT), or one Authority for two or more States/UT, by the
Appropriate Government for oversight of
real estate transactions. To appoint one
or more adjudicating officers to settle disputes and impose compensation and interest;
c. Registration of Real Estate Projects and
Registration of Real Estate Agents: Mandatory registration of real estate projects
and real estate agents who intend to sell
any plot, apartment or building, with the
Real Estate Regulatory Authority;
d. Mandatory Public Disclosure of all project
details: Mandatory public disclosure
norms for all registered projects such as
details of promoters, project, layout plan,
plan of development works, land status,
status of statutory approvals and disclosure of proforma agreements, names and
addresses of real estate agents, contractors, architect, structural engineer etc.;
e. Functions and Duties of Promoter: Disclosure of all relevant information of
project; Adherence to approved plans
and project specifications; Obligations
regarding veracity of the advertisement
for sale or prospectus; Rectify structural
defects; Refund money in cases of default;
f. Compulsory deposit of 50 percent: To
compulsorily deposit 50 percent (or such
lesser percent as notified by the Appropriate Government) of the amounts real-
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
l.
m.
ized for the real estate project from the

allottees in a separate account in a scheduled bank within a period of fifteen days
to cover the cost of construction to be used
for that purpose;
Adherence to declared plans: To bar the
promoter from altering plans, structural
designs and specifications of the plot,
apartment or building without the consent of two-third allottees after disclosure;
However, minor additions or alterations
permissible due to architectural and
structural reasons;
Functions of Real Estate Agents: Real estate agents to sell properties registered
with the Authority; Maintain books of
accounts, records and documents; Not to
involve in any unfair trade practices;
Rights and Duties of Allottees: Right to
obtain stage-wise time schedule of
project; Claim possession as per promoter
declaration; Refund with interest and
compensation for default by the promoter; Allottees to make payments and
fulfill responsibilities as per agreement;
Functions of Real Estate Regulatory Authority: The Authority to act as the nodal
agency to co-ordinate efforts regarding
development of the real estate sector and
render necessary advice to the appropriate Government to ensure the growth and
promotion of a transparent, efficient and
competitive real estate sector;
Fast Track Dispute Settlement Mechanism: Fast track dispute resolution
through adjudicating officers (District
Judge); Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals;
Establishment of Central Advisory Council: To advise the Central Government on
implementation of the Act, recommend
policy, protection of consumer interest
and to foster growth and development of
the real estate sector;
Establishment of Real Estate Appellate
Tribunal: Real Estate Appellate Tribunal
to hear appeals from orders of the Authority and the adjudicating officer. The
39
Appellate Tribunal is to be headed by a

sitting or retired Judge of the High Court,
with one judicial and one administrative/
technical member;
n. Punitive Provisions: Punitive provisions
including de-registration of the project
and penalties in case of contravention of
provisions of the Bill or the orders of the
Authority or Tribunal;
o. Bar of Jurisdiction Courts: Provision for
barring jurisdiction of court and any authority from entertaining complaints in
respect of matters covered under the Bill;
p. Power to make Rules and Regulations:
Appropriate Government to have powers to make rules over subjects specified
in the Bill; Regulatory Authority to have
powers to make regulations;
Navy Launches Stealth
Destroyer INS Visakhapatnam
INS Visakhapatnam, the Indian Navys
most powerful and lethal destroyer was
launched into water for the first time on
20th April at Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai.
The ship was launched from Slip Way No.
2 in MDL, Mumbai. It is to be
commissioned in 2018, and has indigenous
component of over 70 per cent. It has been
made of Indian Steel manufactured by the
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL).
The warships propulsion system will be
from Russia.
The four ships of Project 15B ships being
built at MDL,Mumbai have been designed
indigenously by the Directorate of Naval
Design, Delhi and bear testimony to the
acclaimed legacy of Naval designers. With
a displacement of 7300 tons, each ship will
be spanning 163 meters in length and17.4
meters at the beam and will be propelled
by four gas turbines to achieve speed in
excess of 30 knots. The P15B destroyers
incorporate new designconcepts for
improved survivability, sea keeping,
stealth and maneuverability. Enhanced

stealth features have been achieved
through shaping of hull and use of radar
transparent deck fittings which make these
ships difficult to detect. These ships will
be equipped to carry and operate two
multiple role helicopters.
These ships are also packed with anarray
of state of the art weapons and sensors,
including vertically launched missile
system for long distance engagement of
shore and sea-based targets. With
significant indigenous content, these ships
are a true hallmark of selfreliance attained
by our country in warship design and ship
building.
Kerala Government Launches Subodham
Project to end alcohol abuse
Aimed at cleansing the state of alcohol and
drug abuse, the Kerala government has
launched a project Subodham which will
help people overcome substance addiction.
The project was launched by Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy and Art of Living
Foundation founder Sri Sri Ravishankar in
the presence of religious leaders,
representatives of student organisations
and NGOs working against drug abuse.
Key Facts
The Subodham campaign aims to free one

lakh people from drug and alcohol addiction each year. Subodham heralds the
first step towards Punarjani 2030 Project,
a state government initiative to completely eradicate the menace of substance
abuse in Kerala
The Subodham is supported by the
UNICEF, as well as, several religious
leaders, non-governmental organisations
and other stake holders.
The state education department, meanwhile, agreed to include anti-drug and alcohol awareness content in the state curriculum from the next academic year.
40

Rajasthan Government
Made Amendments in PRI
Rajasthan became the first State in the
country to fix a minimum educational
qualification for contesting elections to the
Panchayati Raj Institutions.
The Assembly passed the Rajasthan
Panchayati Raj (amendment) Bill, 2015,
which makes Class VIII pass mandatory for
the post of sarpanch except in tribal
reserved areas, where the minimum
qualification is Class V and Class X for
Zila Parishad or Panchayat Samiti elections.
The amendments to Section 19 of the
Rajasthan Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 also
make a functional toilet mandatory in the
house of a contestant.
Key provisions of the bill
Contestant for Zila Parishad or Panchayat

Samiti elections should have the minimum qualification of secondary education i.e. Class 10 from the state board or
any approved institution or board.
Contestant for the Sarpanch elections
must have passed Class VIII from any
school in case of general category.
In case of the scheduled area of
Panchayat, the contestant should have
passed Class 5 from a school to become a
Sarpanch.
The provision of mandatory functional
toilet in the house of a contestant also
added in the parent act by amending section 19.
International Paralympic Committee
suspends PCI
International Paralympic Committee has
suspended Indian Paralympic Committee
for indefinite period of time. The IPC has
taken this decision after PCI had provided
shoddy treatment to athletes during the
National Para-Athletics Championships
held in Ghaziabad from March 20 to 22,
2015.
In a letter dated April 15, the IPC said, the
situation in the PCI has been chaotic for
several years now, which is mostly due to
individual conflicts at the national level
between different groups and persons.
Meanwhile the Union Sports Ministry has
also issued a show cause notice over the
alleged poor conduct of the 15th National
para athletics championship in Ghaziabad
last month.
The sports ministry said there were various
complaints regarding the poor conduct of
the Ghaziabad meet, and the Sports
Authority of India (SAI) found in its
enquiry that besides the lack of other
provisions, the venue did not have
facilities for the conduct of a national
championship and also lacked allied
facilities required for differently-abled
athletes such as ramps, disabled-friendly
toilets and lodging.
Operation Rahat: Indian Navy Efforts to
Evacuate Indians from Yemen
Consequent upon the Government of India
issuing an advisory for Indian nationals to
leave Yemen, the Indian Navy has
deployed three ships in support of the
evacuation operation. In a well coordinated
operation involving multiple agencies, INS
Sumitra, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, which
has been deployed for anti-piracy patrol in
the Gulf of Aden since 11 Mar 15 was the
first to undertake evacuation from Yemen.
The ship was re-deployed off the Port of
Aden on 30 Mar 15 and, thereafter, entered
Aden Harbour in the evening of 31 Mar 15.
The ship evacuated 349 Indians from Aden
and is currently on passage to Djibouti. On
disembarkation of these personnel at
Djibouti, the ship is scheduled to return to
Aden to undertake further evacuation, if
required.
41
IN Ships Mumbai and Tarkash also sailed

from Mumbai on 30 Mar 15. The ships will
escort two passenger vessels, Kavaratti and
Corals, through the piracy risk area off the
Coast of Somalia. These passenger vessels
had sailed from Kochi on 30 Mar 15, to
Djibouti. The two warships will, thereafter,
be available for evacuation of Indian
nationals from Yemeni ports, as required.
Coincidentally, the Indian Navy had
undertaken a large scale HADR Exercise
very recently in Feb 2015. The alacrity and
flexibility of the current operation once
again underscores the Navys capability in
terms of Humanitarian Assistance and
Disaster Relief (HADR).
4th LCU of Mk IV
Project Launched
Adding yet another milestone in Indias
quest for self-reliance in sophisticated
shipbuilding, the fourth ship in the series
of eight Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk IV
project - Yard 2095 - for the Indian Navy
was launched at Garden Reach
Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE),
Kolkata, here today (23 Mar 2015).
The launching of Yard 2095, designed and
built by GRSE was done in the presence of
Vice Admiral RK Patnaik, Deputy Chief of
the Naval Staff and Smt. Seli Pattanaik.
Invocations from Atharva Veda were
recited and Smt. Pattanaik named the ship
LCU L54 and wished the ship good luck
before launch.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice Admiral
Pattanaik asserted that Indian Navy has
been the torch-bearer in the drive for
indigenous construction of warships and
acknowledged the role of GRSE as a
reliable partner in pursuing the national
goal of Make in India.
The DCNS also extended warm
felicitations to the entire team of the GRSE

for their significant contribution towards
meeting the Navys growing requirements
of state-of-art warships.
Two LCUs were earlier launched on March
12 and September 23, last year. The third
LCU was launched on January 16, this year.
These ships will play significant role in
transportation of main battle tanks,
armoured vehicles and troops of the Indian
Army during amphibious operations.
The ship can be deployed for maritime
roles like maritime security, beaching and
un-beaching operations, humanitarian
relief operations and evacuation from
distant islands, search and rescue
operations besides peacekeeping missions.
OIL Commissions 54 MW Commercial Wind
Energy Project in Gujarat & Madhya
Pradesh
Oil India Limited (OIL), Indias second
largest National Exploration & Production
Company, has completed another vital
milestone in its quest to becoming a
Sustainability driven Energy Company,
committed to exploring clean energy
solutions for the nation. In doing so, OIL
has successfully commissioned its third
commercial Wind Energy Project, viz. a 54
MW Project in the states of Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh.
Out of the total capacity of 54 MW, the
project is split between a 16 MW capacity
operational site at Patan in Gujarat and a
38 MW capacity operational site at
Chandgarh in Madhya Pradesh. The Patan,
Gujarat wing of the project was
commissioned on 26th March, 2015, while
the Chandgarh, M.P. site was
commissioned on 31st March, 2015. The
Project, fully funded by OIL, is being run
by M/s Gamesa Wind Turbines Pvt. Ltd.,
Chennai, who are the Project developers.

The Project Management consultants are
M/s Power & Energy Consultants, New
Delhi. The total cost of the project is Rs.
126.5 Crore for the Gujarat side and Rs.
312.45 Crore for the M.P. location.
With this, OILs present installed capacity
under the Renewable Energy domain
(Commercial Wind Energy and Solar
Energy projects) stands at an impressive
126.60 MW.
RINL Builds 120 MW Pollution Free
Captive Power Plant
RINL, the corporate entity of Vizag Steel
Plant (VSP) crossed another milestone by
launching a novel project to generate a
Completely pollution free 120 MW Power
with 100% Blast Furnace Gas and Coke
Oven Gas, the first of its kind in Indian
Steel Industry.
It is first of its kind green project launched
in Indian Steel Industry that can generate
pollution free captive power using 100 per
cent Blast Furnace Gas and Coke Oven Gas.
The plant consists of state-of-the-art Boiler
Turbo Generator (BTG) Power Plant
technology in order to efficiently utilise the
surplus Blast Furnace Gas (BFG). This
Power Plant is designed for firing 100 per
cent BFG and Coke Oven Gas for the new
captive power plant of 120 MW-capacity.
The plant is built at a cost of Rs 676 crore.
It will help VSP to move step towards
achieving self-sufficiency in power
generation and to reduce dependency on
the State Grid in the process of steel
making.
RINL currently having 3 Turbo Generators
each 60 MW (180 MW) capacity and 2
Turbo generators of 67.5 (135MW) each
taking the total captive power generation
capacity of 315 MW. In order to efficiently
utilize the surplus Blast Furnace Gas (BFG),
the state-of-the-art technology Boiler Turbo

Generator(BTG) Power Plant designed for
firing 100% BFG and Coke Oven Gas for
the new captive power plant of 120 MW
capacity.
Govt Amends Norms For Financial Support
to PPP in Infra
The Government of India approved
amendments to the Public Private
Partnership (PPP) guidelines to enhance
financial support to projects in the
infrastructure sector.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, has approved the change
in the definition of a Private Sector
Company in the guidelines for financial
support to PPP in Infrastructure under the
Viability Gap Funding Scheme (VGF
Scheme).
Amendments Approved
The definition of a Private Sector Company
means a company which is not a
Government Company. In this case
Government company is defined as any
company in which more than 51 per cent
of the paid-up share capital is held by the
Union Government or State(s) Government
or partly by Union Government and partly
by State Government (s). It also includes a
company which is a subsidiary company
of such a Government company.
Gujarat Government
Passes GUJCO Bill 2015
The Gujarat Government has passed a
stringent anti-terror Bill retaining
controversial provisions that had twice
earlier led to a previous such Bill being
rejected by the President.
The Gujarat Control of Terrorism and
Organised Crime (GUJCO) Bill 2015 makes
only minor changes in the controversial

Gujarat Control of Organised Crime
(GUJCOC) Bill, including adding the word
terrorism in the name. However, it retains
clauses such as permitting admissibility of
evidence collected through interception of
mobile calls of an accused or through
confessions made before an investigating
officer, in a court of law.
Key facts
GCTOC Bill, 2015 is a modified version

of the original 2003 Gujarat Control of Organized Crime Bill. It still contains the
provisions that had led to its rejection by
Presidents in the past.
The bill aims to empower the law enforcing authorities to intercept and record
phone calls as evidence. It also puts the
onus of proving the innocence on an accused. Clause 14 of the Bill mentions that
evidence collected through interception
of wire, electronic or oral communication
shall be admissible as evidence against
the accused in the court.
Himachal Pradesh Government Launched
Indias First E-Vidhan Mobile Apps
Himachal Pradesh Government on 30
March 2015 launched part one of E-Vidhan
Mobile apps. E-Vidhan Mobile apps will
enable all 68 members of state assembly to
get the entire House business on their
smartphones and tablets, laid in the House
45 minutes before the beginning of the daily
proceedings. With this Himachal Pradesh
Vidhan Sabha became the first state
assembly in the country to launch this app
to facilitate smart-working.
Key facts
The app will provide notifications of the

Vidhan Sabhas press releases, bulletins,
budget speeches, documents and the bills
tabled in the House to members.
The bills introduced or laid for discussion
in assembly will be made available to the
members.
The reports laid in the house by the committees, information about government
notification, budget speech and salary
and perks drawn by members will be
viewed on the apps.
The information provided on the apps
could be corrected on line.
To access the apps, wi-fi service will be
made available to the members in side assembly complex during the session.
The hi-tech E-Vidhan system will help state
government to save 8 crore rupees per
annum spent on the paper. Next phase i.e.
part two of E-Vidhan Mobile apps will be
launched later. Part two of E-Vidhan
Mobile apps will facilitate MLAs in their
constituency management works. It will
also help to attend grievances of the people
online and also interact with officials of the
constituency.
Delhi Governemnt Bans
All For Chewable Tobacco
Delhi Government has banned sale,
purchase, storage and manufacturing of all
forms of chewable tobacco including
guktha and pan masala containing tobacco.
In this regard, Delhi Government led by
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has issued
notification banning all products of
chewable tobacco in all forms. The ban on
all such products will continue for next one
year owing to public interest and thereafter,
government will extend the ban all these
products every year. To implement the ban
various citizens monitoring committees
will be formed in every constituency in
order to educate the masses.
Health Department officials said that there
was a Delhi government notification in
September 2012 which was in pursuance
of series of directions from the Supreme
Court to ban gutkha in New Delhi.
But since the ban mentioned the term
44

gutkha, the tobacco retailers started selling
the components of gutkha (betel nut and
raw tobacco) in separate pouches. So, the
purpose of banning gutkha was not served.
The new proposal bans all the raw
chewable tobacco products in Delhi and
takes strict action against the violators. But
no such ban has been enforced on cigarettes
in Delhi.
Rajasthan Government Passes Camel
Slaughter Bill
Legislative Assembly passed by a voice
vote a bill to stop camel slaughter in the
state. The Rajasthan Camel (Prohibition of
Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary
Migration or Export) Bill, 2015 was passed
after a short debate.
The bill bans the slaughter, trading and
unauthorised transportation of camels in
the state. It also prescribes rigorous
punishment for its violation including five
years of rigorous imprisonment along with
monetary fine. Causing injury to camel is
also punishable as per the bill.
Delhi Government Launches e-Ration Card
Service
Delhi Government has launched first eration card service in India to curb the
corruption and increase transparency in the
system. The scheme was launched by the
Delhi Chief Minister Arivind Kejriwal. The
scheme for linking ration and Aadhaar
cards would enable the beneficiaries of
Public Distribution System (PDS) to get the
cards online from the governments web
portal without hassles.
Key Facts
The new arrangement would cut down

the delays in preparation and delivery to
the beneficiaries.
As soon as an application for providing
food security is approved by the Food

Supply Officer concerned, a message will
go to the cellphone number of the beneficiary informing him or her about approval of application and ration card.
The beneficiary can go to the portal of the
department, http://nfs.delhi.gov.in, enter the ration card number and other basic information and get a password on
cellphone. After entry of this password,
the e-ration card will be generated which
can be stored in the electronic form and
used to get the ration supplies. It can also
be printed by the beneficiary from anywhere.
Railway Ministry Constitutes a Committee
to Review PPP cell in Railway
The Ministry of Railways has constituted
a Committee headed by Shri Ajay Shankar,
IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Department
of Industrial Policy & Promotion (Govt. of
India) to review the existing Public Private
Partnership (PPP) Cell in the Railway
Board.
The Committee will recommend measures
needed to make the Cell more effective,
customer friendly and result oriented. The
Infrastructure Directorate of Railway Board
will be the Nodal Directorate for
functioning of the Committee and
Executive Director/Traffic (PPP) Railway
Board will be the Secretary to the
Committee.
Central Govt Constitutes a Committee to
Work out Single Framework for Govt
Clearances
The government plans to ease the process
of getting clearances through a broad legal
framework across sectors. A committee
under former industry secretary Ajay
Shankar has been set up to prepare a draft
of the proposed legislation.
45
The committee, which has Airtel vicepresident Manoj Kohli and Confederation
of Indian Industry secretary-general
Chandrajeet Banerjee as members, would
examine the possibility of replacing
multiple prior permission with pre-existing
regulatory mechanism. The committee has
been asked to submit its report in a month.
The 11-member committee will study the
requirement of various prior permissions
after preparing an exhaustive inventory of
such clearances. It will also recommend a
framework of the proposed regulatory
mechanism.
Telangana, the newest state, has become
the first state in the country to make faster
clearances a statutory right. While
approving the industrial policy for the state
in November 2014, the state Assembly
adopted the Right to Single-Window
Clearance on the lines of Right to
Information. Telangana State Industrial
Project Approval and Self-certification
System has been set up for this purpose.
PM Launches PRAGATI Platform for
Redressal of Grievances
Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra
Modi launched his ambitious multipurpose and multi-modal platform
PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And
Timely Implementation). PRAGATI is a
unique integrating and interactive
platform. The platform is aimed at
addressing common mans grievances, and
simultaneously monitoring and reviewing
important programmes and projects of the
Government of India as well as projects
flagged by State Governments.
The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles
three latest technologies: Digital data
management, video-conferencing and geospatial technology. It also offers a unique
combination in the direction of cooperative

federalism since it brings on one stage the
Secretaries of Government of India and the
Chief Secretaries of the States. With this,
the Prime Minister is able to discuss the
issues with the concerned Central and State
officials with full information and latest
visuals of the ground level situation. Such
an effort has never been made in India. It
is also an innovative project in egovernance and good governance.
Key features of the PRAGATI application are as
follows:
It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States);
Prime Minister will hold a monthly
programme where he will interact with
the Government of India Secretaries, and
Chief Secretaries through Videoconferencing enabled by data and geoinformatics visuals;
The first such programme was launched
on 25th March, 2015 (Wednesday) at 3.30
PM;
Now onwards, it will be held once in every month on Fourth Wednesday at 3.30
PM-to be known as PRAGATI Day.
Issues to be flagged before the PM are
picked up from the available database regarding Public Grievances, on-going
Programmes and pending Projects;
The system will ride on, strengthen and
re-engineer the data bases of the
CPGRAMS for grievances, Project Monitoring Group (PMG) and the Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation. PRAGATI provides an interface and
platform for all these three aspects.
It will also take into consideration various correspondences to PMs office by the
common people or from high dignitaries
of States and/or developers of public
projects;
The issues flagged are uploaded seven
days prior to the PRAGATI day (i.e. on
46

third Wednesday of every month).
These issues can be viewed by the Union
Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries after entering into the application;
User ID and Password for each of the
Union Government Secretaries and Chief
Secretaries have been created and made
available;
Secretaries will be able to see the issues
pertaining to their Department /State;
Secretaries have to put their comments
and updates about the flagged issues
within three days (i.e. by next Monday);
One day - Tuesday is available to the
PMO team to review the data entered by
the Union Government Secretaries and
Chief Secretaries;
The design is such, that when PM reviews
the issue he should have on his screen the
issue as well as the latest updates and visuals regarding the same;
The system has been designed in-house by
the PMO team with the help of National
Informatics Center (NIC). As the name
suggests, it is aimed at starting a culture of
Pro-Active Governance and Timely
Implementation. It is also a robust system
for bringing e-transparency and eaccountability with real-time presence and
exchange among the key stakeholders.
Union Government
Launches Twitter Samvad
The Union government launched a new
platform, in association with Twitter, for
direct communication among leaders,
government agencies and citizens through
tweets and text messages, helping boost egovernance plans. To start with, the service
has 16 partners, including Prime Minister
Narendra Modi; the Chief Ministers of
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh
and West Bengal, Chandrababu Naidu,
Anandiben Patel, Akhilesh Yadav and

Mamata Banerjee, respectively; the Railway
Ministry; and the Bengaluru City Police.
Through Twitter Samvad, a set of curated
Tweets will be delivered every day from
the accounts of the government and the
leaders to mobile-phone users across the
country as text messages. The service can
come in handy during emergencies as
government agencies can share live
updates, even time-sensitive information
on law and order or rescue.
Twitter Samvad is based on a platform
provided by ZipDial, an Indian company
recently acquired by Twitter, making this
its first Indian service launched using
indigenous technology.
Section 66A of the IT Act is
Unconstitutional: SC
Apex court of India of India has declared
Section 66A of the Information Technology
Act is unconstitutional in its entirety.
In the judgment, the court said the liberty
of thought and expression was a cardinal
value of paramount significance under the
Constitution. Three concepts fundamental
in understanding the reach of this right
were discussion, advocacy and incitement.
Discussion, or even advocacy, of a
particular cause, no matter how unpopular
it was, was at the heart of the right to free
speech and it was only when such
discussion or advocacy reached the level
of incitement that it could be curbed on the
ground of causing public disorder.
The court then went on to say that Section
66A actually had no proximate connection
with public order or with incitement to
commit an offence. The information
disseminated over the Internet need not be
information which incites anybody at all.
Written words may be sent that may be
47
purely in the realm of discussion or

advocacy of a particular point of view.
Further, the mere causing of annoyance,
inconvenience, danger, etc., or being
grossly offensive or having a menacing
character are not offences under the
[Indian] Penal Code at all, the court held.
Striking down Section 66A of the
Information Technology Act as
unconstitutional, the Supreme Court
rejected the Centres plea that it was
committed to free speech and would ensure
that the provision was administered in a
reasonable manner.
The Bench turned down a plea to strike
down sections 69A and 79 of the Act, which
deal with the procedure and safeguards for
blocking certain websites and exemption
from liability of intermediaries in certain
cases, respectively.
About 66A of IT Act
66-A provides Punishment for sending

offensive
messages
through
communication service, etc. Any person
who sends, by means of a computer
resource or a communication device,
(a) any information that is grossly offensive
or has menacing character; or
(b) any information which he knows to be
false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation,
enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by
making use of such 2 computer resource
or a communication device; or
(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to
mislead the addressee or recipient about
the origin of such messages,
Asias Largest Tulip Garden Thrown Open
for Public
Asias largest Tulip garden on the banks of
Dal Lake in Srinagar was thrown open to

visitors on 3rd April, even as the inclement
weather conditions have delayed blooming
of majority of the bulbs.
The garden in the foothills of Zabarwan
Range has a total of 1.5 million tulips and
its opening marks the beginning of a new
tourism season in Kashmir Valley.
Formerly known as Siraj Bagh, the Indira
Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden was
opened in 2008 by the then Chief Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad. The idea of the garden
was conceived to advance the tourism
season in the Valley by two months.
Last year the garden was thrown open to
public on March 27. The average life span
of the tulip flower is three to four weeks
but heavy rains or too much of heat can
destroy them.
Orissa Government
Launches Aahar Scheme
Odisha Government on 1 April 2015
launched Aahar- cheap meal scheme for
providing subsidised food to urban poor.
It was launched by Odisha Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik at the Capital Hospital in
Bhubaneswar on the occasion the
foundation day of the state i.e. Utkala
Dibasa.
Facts about Aahar-cheap meal scheme
It aims at providing meal at Rs. five to

the urban poor.
In the first phase scheme was launched
simultaneously in five cities of state including Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Cuttack,
Berhampur and Sambalpur.
The subsidised meals will be provided at
four crowded places each in these five cities to people visiting urban areas for various work
Following companies have sponsored the scheme
in particular city
Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) in
48

Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
Odisha Power Generation Corporation
(OPGC) in Rourkela.
Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) in Sambalpur.
Tata Steel in Berhampur. in States Current Affairs for PCS
Amravati to be New
Capital of Andhra Pradesh
The Andhra Pradesh Government has
decided to name the new capital of the state
which is coming up in Vijayawada-Guntur
region as Amaravathi, after the ancient
seat of power of the Satavahanas. The
resolution to this effect was passed by the
state cabinet which met under chief
minister N Chandrababu Naidu in
Hyderabad.
The government would like to develop the
capital as a modern city that is convenient
to poor people as well, the chief minister
said, adding it would be a peoples
capital. The Singapore government is
preparing master plan for the capital for
free. The plan has three components
overall capital region, capital city and seed
capital, Naidu said.
The Singapore government submitted a
report on capital region during Naidus
visit to the city state yesterday, the capital
city master plan details would be
submitted by May 15 and that on seed
capital would be given by June.
The capital would be connected by radial
roads and will have satellite townships.
There would be a ring road, railway
connectivity and a new airport. Inland
waterways and growth corridors would be
developed around the capital and its
region.
The state cabinet has in-principle accepted
the broad details of master plan for capital
city and capital region and any new ideas
would be incorporated. Naidu thanked the

farmers and land owners in the proposed
capital region who have handed over about
33,000 acres of land.
The cabinet meeting also approved the
states industrial policy which would be in
force from 2015 to 2020. A sectoral policy
for textiles, biotechnology an automobile
has also been announced.
Single desk clearance, 24x7 power supply,
tax exemptions, forming a land bank of 1520 lakh acres, skill development for local
residents and emphasis on promoting SC,
ST, BC and women entrepreneurs are some
of the main features of the policies.
About Amaravathi
Amaravathi town is located in Guntur

district and the same name is being
adopted for the capital in view of its
historical, spiritual and mythological
significance, Naidu told reporters tonight.
It is the city of Lord Indra, the king of the
gods, the chief minister said referring to
mythology.
Amaravathi, located on the banks of river
Krishna, derives its name from Lord
Amareswara temple in the village and it is
known as Dakshina Kashi (Kashi of the
south), he said, adding it was the capital of
Satavahana rulers for 400 years.
Amaravathi has a lot of Buddhist
significance as well with Lord Buddha
believed to have visited the village, besides
King Ashoka and famed Chinese traveller
Hsuan Tsang also believed to have visited
the place.
It has been found in excavations that certain
relic of Gautam Buddha were preserved in
the village. Buddhist spiritual guru Dalai
Lama had conducted Kalachakra, a
Buddhist event, some years ago at
Amaravathi and the Centre has recently
identified it as a heritage city, Naidu said.
49
Task Force on Interlinking of Rivers

Constituted
National Water
Development Agency
Ministry of Water Resources, River

Development & Ganga Rejuvenation has
constituted a Task Force on Interlinking
of Rivers comprising experts and senior
officials to look into the issues relating to
Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) in the country.
The Task Force would be chaired by Shri.
BN Navalawala.
Terms of References of Task Force
The Task Force will take up all issues for

expediting the work on interlinking of
rivers in the Country. Apart from examining the existing links that are laid out
as per the National Perspective Plan under both Himalayan and Peninsular components, the task force would also consider alternative plans in place of infeasible links in the present plan.
The Task Force would facilitate
interlinking of intra-state and intra-basin
Rivers also along with that of inter-state
and inter-basin links.
The Task Force would recommend the
time schedules for completion of feasibility studies and DPRs of all the links,
implementation schedule of all the links
and also suggest on various means of
funding mechanisms for the Interlinking
of Rivers.
The Task Force would also provide guidance on norms of appraisal of individual
projects in respect of economic viability,
socio-economic, environmental impacts
and preparation of resettlement plans.
It would also device suitable mechanisms
for bringing about speedy consensus
amongst the states and also proposes suitable organizational structure for implementing the Interlinking of Rivers.
The Task Force would also try to forge a
consensus amongst the states in order to
take forward the speedy implementation
of the Interlinking of Rivers Program.
National Water Development Agency

(NWDA) was set up in July, 1982 as
Autonomous Society under the Societies
Registration Act, 1860, to carry out the
water balance and other studies on a
scientific and realistic basis for optimum
utilisation of Water Resources of the
Peninsular rivers system for preparation of
feasibility reports and thus to give concrete
shape to Peninsular Rivers Development
Component of National Perspective. In
1990, NWDA was also entrusted with the
task of Himalayan Rivers Development
Component of National Perspectives.
Recently, the functions of NWDA have
been further modified and the work of
preparation of detailed Project Reports
(DPR) of various link proposals and Prefeasibility Reports and feasibility reports
of intra-State links as proposed by the
States have been included in the functions
of NWDA.
FUNCTIONS OF NWDA:
(a) To carry out detailed surveys and investigations of possible reservoir sites and
interconnecting links in order to establish
feasibility of the proposal of Peninsular
Rivers Development and Himalayan Rivers Development components forming
part of National Perspective for Water Resources Development prepared by the
then Ministry of Irrigation (now Ministry of Water Resources) and Central Water Commission.
(b) To carry out detailed surveys about the
quantum of water in various Peninsular
River Systems and Himalayan River Systems which can be transferred to other
basins/States after meeting the reasonable needs of basin/states in the foreseeable future.
c) To prepare feasibility report of the vari-
50

ous components of the scheme relating
to Peninsular Rivers development and
Himalayan Rivers development.
(d) To prepare detailed project report of river
link proposals under National Perspective Plan for Water Resources Development after concurrence of the concerned
States.
(e) To prepare pre-feasibility/feasibility report of the intra-state links as may be proposed by the States.
(f) To do all such other things the Society
may consider necessary, incidental,
supplementary or conducive to the attainment of above objectives.
PwC man
Involved in Spying: CBI
The Central Bureau of Investigation, which

has arrested five suspects in the corporate
espionage racket, said that the investigation
had revealed the alleged role of a
representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers
India in obtaining information from the
Department of Economic Affairs.
The agency produced accused Paresh
Chimanlal Buddhadev, a partner in Chitale
& Associates, before a Mumbai court that
granted his transit remand for being
brought to Delhi. Another accused, Ram
Niwas, Assistant in the Finance Ministry,
was also sent to five days CBI custody.
The agency earlier arrested Mumbai-based
accused
Chartered
Accountant
Khemchand Gandhi, who had allegedly
been procuring the documents, Ashok
Kumar Singh, Under Secretary in the
Department of Disinvestment; and Lala
Ram Sharma, Section Officer in the
Department of Economic Affairs. The three
are in CBI custody.
SC gives one
last chance to Sahara
The Supreme Court granted the Sahara
group a last opportunity to raise bail money

to its chief Subrata Roy and two directors
in jail since March 2014.
A Special Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur,
Anil R. Dave and A.K. Sikri, at one point,
said the court had lost its patience with
Saharas repeated assurances that they
would sell their assets soon to pay security
f
o
r
securing bail.
The Bench stopped short of going ahead
and appointing court receivers to take
over from Sahara and initiate sale deals in
a transparent manner.
But Saharas counsel and senior advocate
Kapil Sibal prevailed over the court and
requested to give his client one last
chance to sell their assets and collect Rs.
6000 crore more required for bail security.
Earlier the court had asked 65-year-old Roy
to pay a total Rs 10,000 crore to get bail.
During the hearing, the Sahara group
blamed Mirach Capital for the failure of the
second proposed deal for selling of offshore
properties.
Haryana set to
Ban Cow Slaughter
Haryana is all set to bring legislation for
banning cow slaughter and making it a
punishable offence. The move is not only
likely to have an adverse impact on the
cuisine and business of premier hotels in
the State but also the livelihood of a large
number of people dependent on butchery,
especially in the minority-dominated
district of Mewat.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said that
the State Government is framing a stringent
law to clamp a complete ban on cow
slaughter which would help in the
protection and promotion of cows.
Following Maharashtras ban on beef,
51
Haryana now looks all set to follow suit.

Haryana Agriculture and Animal
Husbandry Minister Om Prakash Dhankar
had also confirmed that stringent
punishment would be handed out for cow
slaughter and sale and storage of beef in
the State.
You sat on Rape videos,
SC tells Home Ministry
The Supreme Court pulled up the Home
Ministry for sitting on crucial video
material about a gang rape highlighted in
the Shame the Rapist campaign launched
by
activist
Sunitha Krishnan.
The Social Justice Bench of Justice Madan
B. Lokur and Justice U.U. Lalit found the
Ministry made no move to hand over the
video evidence to the CBI for over 20 days.
It received the videos on February 10 from
Ms. Krishnan, but chose to pass them on to
the CBI only on March 5. Despite repeated
queries from the Bench to explain its
conduct, the Ministry had nothing to offer.
So between February 10 and March 5, you
just sat on these videos. You people did not
do anything ... only yesterday you filed the
FIRs, Justice Lokur told Additional
Solicitor-General Maninder Singh, who
appeared for the Ministry.
The court directed Mr. Singh to name the
officer who received the video evidence
from Ms. Krishnan, and demanded a full
explanation on What you were doing all
that time till March 5.
The court, during the previous hearing on
February 27, took suo motu cognisance of
a letter by Prajwala, a non-governmental
organisation of Ms. Krishnan, highlighting
the existence of the videos and the
immediate necessity to nab the culprits.
The Bench had ordered the CBI

investigation.
In the videos, five men are seen smiling into
the camera after taking turns at sexually
assaulting their victim.
Mr. Singh said the videos showed a total
of 12 clips, of which three were repeats. He
said eight FIRs had been filed and a
preliminary inquiry had started on one.
The court ordered the Ministry to share the
photos with the Directors-General of Police
in Odisha, West Bengal and U.P. where
these men may hail from.
MHA tells States, UTs not to use national
flag made of plastic
The Union Home Ministry had directed all
State Government and Union Territories
not to use National Flag made of plastic for
any function as these are not biodegradable
and thus their appropriate disposal is
not possible.
The letter, which has been sent to all State
governments and Union Territories, noted
that National Flag made of plastic are being
used in place of paper flags on important
functions. Since plastic flags are not
biodegradable like the paper flags, these do
not get decomposed for a long time and are
harmful to the atmosphere. Further,
ensuring the appropriate disposal of
national flags made of plastic with the
dignity of the flagis a problem.
Therefore, the MHA said State
governments and others should ensure that
on important national, cultural and sports
events, only flags made by the paper are
used in public.
It cautioned that offence pertaining to
showing disrespect to the National Flag can
invite up to three years jail term, fine or
both.
52

Process on to implement One Rank One
Pension scheme
The modalities for implementing One
Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for
armed forces are under consideration and
the financial implication could be
calculated once the details are finalised and
approved by the government, Lok Sabha
was informed.
Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit
Singh said in a written reply that the
principle of OROP for the armed forces has
been
accepted
by
the government.
He was asked whether the implementation
of the scheme has been delayed.
Responding to another part of the question
on removing disparities in pension of
various ex-servicemen, he said possible
amendments to the pension policies are
being examined with a view to reduce
litigation.
Explaining the reasons behind the delay,
the Minister had said, The methodology
of calculating the One Rank, One Pension
is an issue pending between the Services
and the Defence Ministry.
The scheme, which seeks to ensure that a
uniform pension is paid to defence
personnel who retire at the same rank with
the same length of service, irrespective of
their date of retirement, has been a longstanding demand of the over two million
ex-servicemen in the country. It is
important to note that, earlier Army Chief
Dalbir Singh Suhag said that the scheme
will be implemented by the April and this
year.
Law panel bats for stronger EC
the poll body and appointing the CEC and

the two ECs by a high-powered collegium.
In its report on electoral reforms submitted
to the Law Ministry, the law panel has also
recommended creation of a permanent,
independent Secretariat for the EC.
The law panel said Article 324(5) of the
Constitution should be amended to equate
the removal procedures of the two Election
Commissioners with that of the Chief
Election Commissioner.
The President appoints Chief Election
Commissioner
and
Election
Commissioners after the Law Ministry
initiates the file for their appointment.
The Chief Election Commissioner can be
removed from office only through
impeachment by Parliament. The
government can remove the ECs based on
the recommendation of the CEC.
The Law Commission said the
appointment of all the Election
Commissioners, including the CEC, should
be made by the President in consultation
with a three-member collegium or selection
committee, consisting of the Prime
Minister, the Leader of the Opposition of
the Lok Sabha (or the leader of the largest
opposition party in the Lok Sabha) and the
Chief Justice of India.
It said elevation of an Election
Commissioner should be on the basis of
seniority, unless the three member
collegium or a committee, for reasons to be
recorded in writing, finds such
Commissioner unfit.
The precedent is to appoint the senior-most
EC as the CEC.
Govt. rethinking strategy on Land Bill
Law Commission has pitched for a stronger

Election Commission by giving equal
constitutional protection to all members of
In a major shift in stance, the government

will not bring the controversial Land
Acquisition (Amendment) Bill in the first
53
half of the Budget Session of Parliament

ending on March 20.
It may either allow the ordinance to lapse
or repromulgate it after Parliament is
prorogued.
This was indicated by Union Parliamentary
Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu to
party leaders during the meeting of the
Rajya Sabha Business Advisory
Committee.
On the face of it, the government maintains
that it needs to confer with the Opposition
to build a consensus, but with tremendous
pressure from the RSS and its affiliates and
farmers organisations, the BJP is reframing
its
strategy
on
the Bill.
Significantly, Prime Ministers Man ki
Baat radio talk on March 22 is on farmers
issues.
He has invited comments from farmers,
saying he would like to hear them.
According to sources, the government is
keen that the Coal Mines (Special
Provisions) Bill and the Mines and Minerals
(Development
and
Regulation)
Amendment Bill be approved by the Upper
House after they are returned by the
respective Select Committees on March 18.
Since coal auctions are under way, the
government is keen that legislation is in
place and the Opposition parties are on
board on this.
But because of differences on the Land Bill,
the government is having a rethink on its
strategy.
Ban on airing
Indias Daughter to Continue
Remarking that media trials tend to
influence judgements, the Delhi High
Court said that although it had no objection
to screening the BBC documentary Indias
Daughter, the matter could only be

decided post a verdict regarding the fate
of
the
convicts,
from
the
Supreme Court.
The Division Bench further said a decision
on lifting the ban could only be taken by
an appropriate Chief Justices Bench.
It also refused to pass any interim orders
on the appeal asking for the ban to be lifted.
Had it been originally placed before us,
we would have asked you to place material
before us on why the ban should be lifted.
But it has come here from the roster bench
of the Chief Justice, so we will not pass any
interim orders. Let the roster bench decide
it, the court said.
The judges spoke at length over the subject
of media trials influencing court decisions.
Media trials do tend to influence judges.
Subconsciously, a pressure is created and
it does have an effect on the sentencing of
the accused. Whether he [the accused] has
shown remorse or not would be considered
at the time of his sentencing. Why not wait
till the Supreme Court decision?
Make paid news a poll offence: Law panel

The Law Commission has recommended
that newspaper advertisements on the eve
of elections be banned. In a report released
on Thursday, the commission wanted
Independent candidates to be barred from
contesting elections, and paid news made
an electoral offence leading to
disqualification.
Headed by Justice A.P. Shah, the
commission submitted its 255th report, on
the issue of electoral reforms, to the Union
Law Ministry.
Noting that the ban on broadcast of election
matter 48 hours prior to an election was
restricted to the electronic media now, the
commission
recommended
such
54
prohibition for the print media also.

The report recommends regulating opinion
polls and making disclosures about the
methodology mandatory.
The commission, while stopping short of
recommending state funding of elections
or limits to political parties expenditure on
elections, recommended several changes to
election funding legislation.
Noting that the current system tolerates,
or at least does not prevent, lobbying and
capture, where a sort of quid pro quo
transpires between big donors and political
parties/candidates,
the
report
recommends making it mandatory for all
parties to declare donations of even less
than the current Rs. 20,000 limit, if the total
of such contributions adds up to Rs. 20
crore, or makes up 20 per cent of the partys
income, whichever is lower.
Welcoming many of the recommendations,
Jagdeep Chhokar, co-founder of the
Association for Democratic Reforms,
whose work the report refers extensively
to, said, however, that the organisation
would continue to press for limits on
political parties expenditure.
Independent candidates are often
dummy candidates, the commission
said. It criticised compulsory voting,
recently introduced during local elections
in Gujarat, and did not support the right to
recall or a move to proportional
representation.
The report recommended measures to
strengthen the Election Commission and
for a collegium or selection committee,
which includes the Leader of Opposition,
to appoint commissioners.
Citizen ID systems tend to exclude

marginalised: WB
Despite heavy investment on large-scale
citizen identification systems, akin to the

UID-Aadhaar project, these often run the
risk of increased exclusion of the most
vulnerable and marginalised groups, a new
World Bank study cautions.
While the study, titled Identification
systems dont always serve the bottom
40%, does not specifically discuss
Aadhaar, it analyses similar systems in
several Asian and African countries and
finds less than robust evidence to justify
their multi-million dollar budgets.
It cautions of a real risk in over-selling
development benefits of identification
systems, especially those related to service
delivery, which is primarily what the
Indian government intends to use Aadhaar
for.
Attracted by the promise of new
technology, countries and development
partners ... have invested heavily in
identification systems ... [however]
rigorous evidence on the link between
registration/ documentation and
development outcomes is limited and
mixed, the study says.
Authors Megan Brewer, Nicholas Menzies
and Jared Schott argue that strengthening
large-scale identification systems could
result in several perverse consequences
that undermine development gains.
Since registration among marginalised
groups, like rural poor, could be
significantly lower than national averages,
using such data for development planning
could result in further exclusion of these
groups, the researchers say.
NGO seeks CBI, ED probe into Aditya Birla

group
Common Cause, the NGO whose PIL plea
led to the cancellation of coal block
55
allocations, moved the Supreme Court

accusing Aditya Birla group of hawala
transactions, money laundering and
bribery and sought a CBI and Enforcement
Directorate probe.
The application filed by advocate Prashant
Bhushan for the NGO cited how coal
extracted from a captive block allocated to
the Sasan ultra mega power project was
allowed to be diverted, resulting in a huge
post-bidding concession worth Rs. 29,000
crore to Reliance Power Limited (a Reliance
ADAG company).
It alleged that huge amounts of cash were
routed through hawala by the Birla Group.
The application also pointed to alleged
recovery of unaccounted Rs. 25 crore
during the raids on the company office.
SC upholds life term in Manjunath murder
case
A decade after he was gunned down for
fighting the oil adulteration racket in Uttar
Pradesh, IIM-Lucknow alumnus and
Indian Oil Corporation manager
Manjunath Shanmugham won justice, with
the Supreme Court confirming the life
imprisonment of six persons accused for
his death.
In a judgment, a Bench of Justices S.J.
Mukhopadhaya and N.V. Ramana quoted
the prosecution about how the brutal death
of the young Karnataka-born manager had
shaken the nations conscience.
The judgment reproduces the prosecutions
submissions about the lonely battle waged
by Mr. Manjunath, who was shot dead at
Gola area of Lakhimpur Kheri district on
November 19, 2005 after he threatened to
cancel a petrol pumps licence for selling
spurious fuel.
Though the trial court had sentenced him
to death, Mr. Mittals punishment was
commuted to life imprisonment by the

Allahabad High Court.
RTI Act applies to A-Gs office
Stating that even under common parlance
the office of the Attorney General of India
has always been understood to mean a
constitutional authority, the Delhi High
Court refused to accept that this office was
outside the ambit of the Right to
Information Act and further directed it to
reconsider the RTI application that it had
rejected on these grounds.
The issue came into question when a
petition challenging an order by the Central
Information Commission was up for
hearing before the single Bench of Justice
Vibhu Bakhru.
The CIC had held that the office of the AGI
was not a public authority under Section
2(h) of the RTI Act.
The petition was also challenging a letter
by the AGI refusing all information to the
petitioner under the RTI act.
An office that is established under the
Constitution would clearly fall within the
definition of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act,
said Justice Vibhu Bakhu while rejecting
AGIs arguments.
Land Bill
Clears Lok Sabha hurdle
The controversial Land Acquisition
(Amendment) Bill was approved by the
Lok Sabha , but not before the Modi
government reached out to unhappy NDA
allies and unattached parties such as the
BJD and the AIADMK to seek their support
for
this
crucial legislation.
The Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the
Samajwadi Party, the RJD and the BJD
walked out of the House while NDA ally
56

Shiv Sena abstained as the Bill was passed
by voice vote.
In the official amendments it moved, the
government accommodated some concerns
of the Opposition and allies, such as
dropping social infrastructure from the
five categories of land use exempted from
t
h
e
consent clause.
However, other key points of contention
the Social Impact Assessment and the
restoration of the consent clause
remained unresolved as the Bill moves to
the Rajya Sabha, where the government is
outnumbered and the Opposition plans
to force the Bill to a Select Committee.
Barring the Swabhiman Paksha and the
Shiv Sena that held its counsel during the
meeting, all the other allies agreed to back
the government if it addressed their
concerns.
SC unhappy with fund use for Taj zone
green project
Noting its unhappiness with the Uttar
Pradesh government, the Supreme Court
came to the brink of ordering a CBI probe
into the alleged irregularities in its
utilisation of funds meant for
compensatory afforestation at the Taj
Trapezium Zone (TTZ) in Agra.
Justice Thakur considered directing a CBI
probe into the irregularities, but said the
court would give the government one last
opportunity to fulfil its commitment to
plant saplings to replace trees felled across
the land spread over several hundred
hectares.
It said the only explanation for
discrepancy and failure from the officials
was
non-release
of funds.
Calling their attitude cavalier, the court
asked why these officials could not have

approached the court had their intentions
been in earnest.
A Bench gave the State four weeks to
comply with its orders. The States
Additional Advocate-General Gaurav
Bhatia promised that the court orders
would be complied with and a better
affidavit, removing all discrepancies on the
number of trees uprooted and the number
of trees planted.
Mumbai to come under CCTV surveillance,
says Governor
The installation of CCTV-based
surveillance systems for Mumbai is
expected to be completed within 90 weeks
and the project is already being
implemented in Pune, Maharashtra
Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao told the joint
session of the Maharashtra Assembly on
the opening day of the budget session.
It is proposed that GPRS-based system
will be installed in Meru and other Private
Taxis and the front seats reserved in share
taxis in Mumbai for women, he said to
underline the measures for improving the
safety and comfort of women commuters
in Mumbai.
Emphasising several measures taken by the
Devendra Fadnavis government to
decongest Mumbai and improve its
infrastructure, Mr. Rao said the
government has expedited the work of
Navi Mumbai International Airport Project,
the second international airport for the city,
and has received consent letters from
Project Affected People (PAP) for land
acquisition.
On the plan to decongest Mumbai by
developing new smart cities, Mr. Rao said
the government has proposed a new city
on an area of 600 sq km around the Navi
57
Mumbai international airport, and the city

would be christened NAINA.
World War I
Commemorations begin
Over 74,000 Indian soldiers laid down their
lives fighting the war.
The Centenary Commemoration of the First
World War (1914-1918), in memory of the
1.5 million Indian soldiers who fought in
the war, began with President Pranab
Mukherjee laying a wreath at Amar Jawan
Jyoti in India Gate.
The commemoration, from March 10-14, is
also in memory of the over 74,000 soldiers
who laid down their lives fighting the war,
whose names are etched in stone on the
walls of India Gate. They fought in several
theatres across Asia, Africa and Europe.
The centenary commemo-rations will
continue till 2018.
March 10 coincides with the Battle of
Neuve Chapelle marking the British
offensive in the Artois region of France, in
which the Garhwal Brigade and the Meerut
Division of the Indian Corps participated.
Between 1914 and 1918, around 90,000
Indian soldiers fought on the French soil,
more than 8,500 of whom perished.
General Jean-Pierre Bosser, Chief of Staff
of the French Army, is currently on an
official visit in India to pay tribute to the
sacrifice of Indian soldiers who laid down
their lives for Frances freedom during
World War I.
The highlight is an exhibition at
Manekshaw Centre in which the moments
and conditions of World War I have been
recreated.
The Corner of Remembrance in the
exhibition will have old letters and an old
home with belongings of soldiers while the
Sacrifice Hall includes replicas of Indian

memorials and paintings of Victoria Cross
winners in India and abroad.
The Army has also created a replica of a
World War I bunker showcasing the living
conditions of the soldiers then.
Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu top in girls
education
Delhi, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are Indias
best-ranked States in terms of genderrelated education indicators, new data
from the Ministry of Human Resource
Development and UNICEF, shows.
Using district-level indicators of girls
education, health and social disadvantages,
the government aims to identify the most
backward pockets of the country, requiring
the most attention.
While the atlas uses data earlier collected
by other government agencies, it also
creates a new composite index using 21
indicators to do with girls education, along
four axes access, infrastructure, teachers
and outcomes. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi
and Punjab are in the top 25% of the indexs
range for elementary education, and the
two Southern states and Delhi make the top
quarter of the index for secondary
education as well. Central and northern
States, including Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh and Bihar, are among the worst
performers.
The atlas also creates a Vulnerability Index
of factors which impinge on girls
education, including the likelihood of
joining the workforce early and
early marriage.
The two southern States, along with Delhi
and Himachal Pradesh, are the best
performers here, with Gujarat, Rajasthan
and the central and northern States among
the worst.
58

Nagaland submits report on lynching
The Nagaland government has submitted
an interim report to the Union Ministry of
Home Affairs on the lynching of a person
from Assam in Dimapur on March 5.
The report, it is understood, says the police
and prison security staff were
overwhelmed by the huge crowd.
Police could not open fire initially since
there were a number of women and
children among the protesters.
A 7000-strong mob had stormed the jail on
March 5 and pulled out Syed Sarif Khan,
who was accused of raping a Naga student.
He was stripped and dragged all the way
and when police caught up with the mob,
the accused was already dead.
Ruskin Bond lends a hand to Swachh Bharat
campaign
Celebrated author Ruskin Bond has joined
the Swachh Bharat campaign, wielding a
broom specially made by the students of
the
Moran
Blind
School
in Assam.
Actor Victor Banerjee who runs the
school at Moranhat in upper Assams
Dibrugarh district handed over the
broom to the famous storyteller at the
latters
residence
in Mussoorie.
Indias Daughter documentary: HC refuses
urgent hearing on PIL to lift ban
The Delhi High Court refused to give
urgent hearing to a PIL seeking lifting of
the ban on telecast of a controversial
documentary featuring an interview of one
of the four convicts in the December 16
gangrape case.
A bench of justices B.D. Ahmed and Vibhu
Bakhru said there is no so urgency in the
matter and it will be heard on March 11.

The courts response came after two law
students Arun Menon and Kritika
Padode in their public interest
litigation (PIL) sought urgent hearing,
saying the ban on the documentary is a
clear violation of their fundamental rights
under
Article
19
of
the
Indian Constitution.
The duo approached the High Court after
a trial court on March 4 had banned until
further orders the broadcast of the
interview of December 16, 2012 gangrape
convict Mukesh Singh, which was
allegedly conducted in July 2013 inside
Tihar jail in New Delhi.
Earlier, a trial court had restrained the
media from broadcasting or publishing the
interview of Mukesh Singh after the Delhi
police moved court for a restraining order
against his interview.
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry
has also issued an advisory to all television
channels to not broadcast the documentary
on the victim.
The government has also sought an
explanation from Tihar jail authorities over
how the convict was interviewed while
being in judicial custody.
A similar petition was filed last week, by a
law student, who has sought lifting of the
ban on the ground that it is nothing but a
honest look at the mind and mindset of one
of the convicted rapists of the young
woman.
The plea also said that a direction be issued
to the Supreme Court registry to constitute
a three judge special bench to hear the
appeals of the four death row convicts,
which is pending since August 25, 2014.
Initially the apex court in July had stayed
the execution of the four convicts in the
gang-rape and murder case.
59
The other petition, prepared by Vibhor

Anand, had also said that it is legally
wrong to oppose the screening of the film
after giving it legal approval and after the
documentary-makers fulfilled all legal
commitments.
It claimed that the parents of the gangrape
victim have also not objected to the telecast
of the documentary.
It also said that as per social media the
public at large wanted to see the
documentary as within 24 hours of its being
put up on YouTube, it was viewed by more
2
.
8
6
lakh people.
The victim, a physiotherapy student was
raped and assaulted with an iron rod after
she was tricked into boarding an
unregistered private bus to go home after
watching a movie with a male friend on
December 16, 2012.
Worlds first
Solar-powered Aircraft
The Swiss solar-powered aircrafts flight
got delayed by a day due to bad weather
conditions in the UAE.
Solar Impulse, claimed to be the worlds
only solar-powered aircraft, will make a
stop over in Ahmedabad as a part of its
maiden global journey.
After making a landing here, the solarpowered aircrafts founders and pilots
Bertrand Piccard and Androrschberg are
likely to stay in the city for two days before
leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the
release said.
The Swiss solar-powered aircrafts flight
got delayed by a day due to bad weather
conditions in the UAE. The aircraft was
scheduled to land in Ahmedabad .
Piccard and Borschberg, during their stay
in the city, will reach out to the
government, NGOs, universities and

schools to spread the message of
clean technologies.
The aircraft is also likely to hover above
river Ganga in Varanasi to spread the
message of cleanliness and clean energy,
an
official
associated
with
the project said.
Solar Impulse is claimed to be the first
aircraft to fly day and night without a drop
of fuel, propelled solely by the suns
energy, as per the projects website.
The single-seater aircraft made of carbon
fibre has a 72 metre wingspan, larger than
that of Boeing-747 and weighs just 2,300 kg,
equivalent to the weight of a car.
The 17,248 solar cells built into the wing
supply electric motors with renewable
energy. The solar cells recharge four
lithium polymer batteries totalling 633 kg
each, which allow the aircraft to fly at night
and therefore have virtually unlimited
autonomy, it said.
This round-the-world flight will take-off
from Abu Dhabi and make a halt at Muscat
(Oman), Ahmedabad and Varanasi in
India, Mandalay in Myanmar and
Chongqing and Nanjing in China.
After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii,
the aircraft will fly across the US stopping
at Phoenix, the Midwest and New York
City, said the website.
The test flight of the aircraft was conducted
in the US in 2013.
As tensions rise,
Assam on alert to Protect Nagas
The Assam government has put its
administration on high alert following the
lynching of a rape accused, Syed Sarif
Khan, from the State by a mob after
dragging him out of the Dimapur jail in
Nagaland .
60

The government has asked the Deputy
Commissioners, the Superintendents of
Police and the Divisional Commissioners
to provide security to people from
Nagaland living in the State and to ensure
the safety of travellers between the two
States.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rockybul
Hussain listed the steps in a statement in
the Assembly after the Opposition raised
the issue.
The government informed the Assembly
that Nagaland promised to arrest the guilty
and instituted a judicial investigation,
besides suspending three officials.
Mr. Hussain said Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi had written to his Nagaland
counterpart, T.R. Zeliang, requesting that
those behind the lynching be arrested and
the lives and property of Assamese be
secured.
The Chief Minister had written to Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh to take up
the matter with the Nagaland government.
He said Sarif Khan, 28, from Bhanga village
in Karimganj district had been living in
Dimapur for over two years after marrying
a Naga woman.
Mr. Gogoi told presspersons that it was
important to fix responsibility for security
lapses. The Union government owed an
explanation because the Central Reserve
Police Force was deployed for jail security.
The movement of lorries to Nagaland
remained suspended. Members of the AllAssam Goods Carrier Truck Drivers and
Handyman Union staged a protest in the
city.
Mufti orders
Release of political prisoners
Senior separatist leader Masarat Alam was
released from prison just days after Jammu
and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti

Mohammad Sayeed directed the police to
release political prisoners against whom no
criminal
charges
had
been registered.
Earlier in the day, police sources had
confirmed that he had been moved from
the Baramulla prison to a police station
in Srinagar.
Head of the Muslim League in the State,
Mr Alam was among the main organisers
of pro-Azadi protests in the Valley in 2010.
He was arrested along with several other
leaders after those protests and remained
one of the few senior leaders still behind
bars.
Arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA)
a preventive detention law in J&K which
gives a Deputy Commissioner the
authority to take anyone in his district into
preventive custody for up to two years
without trial if he feels the person poses a
threat to the security of the State Mr.
Alam has been in various prisons for more
than four years now.
Police sources said since 2010, more than
six consecutive PSA charges had been
slapped on him.
Reacting strongly to the release of Masarat
Alam, the BJP said the decision was antinational, unacceptable and detrimental to
the coalition.
Nirbhaya film: Bar council issues notice to

defence lawyers
Even as the Bar Council of India initiated
suo motu proceedings for professional
misconduct against two defence lawyers in
the Nirbhaya gang-rape case for their
alleged derogatory remarks against women
in the BBC documentary Indias Daughter,
senior members of the legal community
said lawyers, above all, should be sensitive
61
to the equality and dignity of women.

They said the proceedings gives the BCI,
the highest regulatory body for legal
practice, an opportunity to amend rules to
check
lawyers
from
making
unsubstantiated, off-the-cuff remarks,
especially when they represent sensitive
cases involving crimes against women.
The two lawyers Manohar Lal Sharma
and A.P. Singh represent the four persons
on death row for the brutal gang-rape and
murder of a 23-year-old medical student
in Delhi in December 2012.
New Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route by
June
The new route for Kailash Mansarovar
Yatra through Nathu La in Sikkim will be
operationalised during this yatra season
beginning in June, Minister of External
Affairs Sushma Swaraj informed the
Parliament.
The route through Nathu La will augment
the capacity and reduce the hardship
enabling many pilgrims, particularly aged
ones, to undertake the yatra, the
government said.
The understanding for the new route was
reached between India and China during
the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to
India last year.
The new route was necessitated as the
current route through Lipulekh pass in
Uttarakhand is cumbersome and also the
number of pilgrims increasing.
In the last three years about 1700 pilgrims
had visited Mansarovar. With the addition
of the second route, 1000 pilgrims are
expected to undertake the yatra this year
alone.
As per the understanding, five batches of
50 pilgrims each are expected to travel
through Nathu La this year.
A dedicated website has been set up and

the application procedure has been
simplified.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is
scheduled to visit China in May but
External Affairs Ministry officials have
denied reports that he would travel to
Kailash Mansarovar.
Activists continue bid to post Indias
Daughter on the Web
Free speech activists continued efforts to
make available Indias Daughter on the
Internet ,demand grew more vocal for a
revocation of the ban on the controversial
documentary on the December 16, 2012
gang rape in Delhi.
Though the hour-long documentary, aired
on BBC Four on Wednesday evening, could
not be accessed on YouTube for much of
the day, at least one URL (Uniform
Resource Locator) provided it for watching
in the evening.
On clicking the YouTube link to the video,
the video-sharing site threw up a black
screen for the most part of the day with a
message, This content is not available on
this country domain due to a court order.
Asked if the government had issued any
new communication to pull down more
URLs, a Google India source said: There
was no update. The film was, however,
accessible on other video-sharing websites
as people found ways of circumventing the
ban to share the film.
As more people managed to access the film,
the clamour for revoking the ban grew,
resulting in more endorsements for an
online petition to the Union Home Minister
to reverse the decision and celebrate
International Womens Day (March 8) by
shining a light on the problems our country
faces, instead of shying away from them.
62

The decision to ban the film, which the
government said was part of an
international conspiracy to defame India,
drew world media attention with most
leading media houses reporting on it or
carrying editorials.
Ex-editor of RSS organ replaces NBT
Chairman
The Government appointed Baldev Bhai
Sharma, former editor of Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sanghs weekly magazine,
Panchajanya, as the next Chairman of the
National Book Trust (NBT) cutting short
the term of incumbent A. Sethumadhavan
better known by his pen name Sethu
by six months.
Officially, the Ministry of Human Resource
Development (HRD) was filling a vacancy
that fell open last week.
According to Mr. Sethumadhavan, he had
put in his papers last week after he was
called to the Ministry by the joint secretary
overseeing NBT affairs and given a clear
indication that the Government wanted to
appoint someone else.
Conceding that it was the Governments
prerogative to replace him, Mr.
Sethumadhavan said he had hoped to
complete his three-year term as there had
been no interference from the Ministry
since the change of guard at
the Centre.
He had been appointed NBT Chairman on
September 12, 2012, for three years, and had
a little over six months to go.
Centre to amend RBI Act to set up monetary
policy panel
An agreement between the Centre and the
Reserve Bank of India last month
formalised a policy that the central bank
had been following since January 2014, of
prioritizing controlling price rise.

The Centre would amend the RBI Act for
the setting up of the proposed monetary
policy committee, a key element of the new
framework.
Replying to a query, Mr. Mehrishi said the
budget announcement about proposed
strategic disinvestment in public sector
units would enable the Centre to induct
private strategic partners.
Nanditha Krishna, M.D. Srinivas in ICHR
The Union MHRD has reconstituted the
Indian Council for Historical Research,
inducting 18 new members.
Included in the restructured Council is C.I.
Issac, former Head of the Department of
History at CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala
and author of The Evolution of Christian
Church in India, which questions the
origins of Christianity in India from
St Thomas.
Jadavpur University Professor Purabi Roy
who has worked extensively on Subash
Chandra Bose also joins the Council.
The new nominees to the Council include
Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Professor Emeritus of
South Asian Archaeology, Cambridge
University,
Nanditha Krishna, Director of C.P.
Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, Chennai,
Michel Danino, Guest Professor at the
Indian Institute of Technology,
Gandhinagar, and author of books on
ancient India,
M. D. Srinivas, chairman of Chennai-based
Centre
for
Policy Studies,
Cambodia-based Sachchi-dananda Sahai
who authored the five-volume Lao
Ramayana and helped restore Angkor
Vat, and
63
Rahman Ali, Head of the Department of the

School of Studies in Ancient Indian History,
Culture and Archaeology at Vikram
University, Ujjain.
PDP gets
10 Cabinet berths, BJP six
Among the 24 legislators sworn in as
Ministers in Jammu and Kashmir, 16 will
join the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Cabinet.
While 10 of the PDP are in the Cabinet, the
BJP has six, including Peoples Conference
chairman
and
party
ally
Sajjad Lone.
The Cabinet Ministers from the PDP are
Haseeb Drabu, Haq Khan, Imran Raza
Ansari, Abdul Rehman Bhat (Veeri), Javed
Mustafa Mir, Basharat Bukhari, Choudhary
Zulfikar Ali, Ghulam Nabi Lone, Altaf
Bukhari and Naeem Akhter.
The PDP has three Ministers of State
Abdul Majeed Padder, Ashraf Mir and
Asiya Naqash.
The six Cabinet ministers from the BJP are
Mr. Lone, Nirmal Singh, who will be
Deputy Chief Minister, Lal Singh, Bali
Bhagat, Sukhnandan Kumar and Chander
Prakash.
The party has five Ministers of State
Shirin Dorji, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Abdul
Gani Kohli, Priya Sethi and Independent
candidate Pawan Kumar Gupta.
Mr. Sayeed described as a breakthrough the
joining of Mr. Lone, who formerly held a
separatist position, in the government, but
refrained from suggesting that it would
become an example for other separatist
leaders.
Pakistani singer Adnan Sami applies for
Indian citizenship
Pakistani singer-musician Adnan Sami has
applied for Indian citizenship for a second
time despite an earlier plea of his having

been rejected by the Centre.
The 43-year-old singer - whose earlier
request was rejected some two years back
- has made his application to the
Foreigners Division of the Home Ministry.
Last month, Home Ministry had asked Law
Ministry as to whether Sami can be granted
Indian citizenship. But Law Ministry
refused to entertain the request, saying that
the power of granting Indian citizenship
lies with the Home Ministry under the
Citizenship Act.
The Law Ministry, however, said that it can
help Home Ministry with the interpretation
of any provision of the Citizenship Act to
enable it to decide the case.
Under the Indian Citizenship Act, a
foreigner is entitled to receive citizenship
provided that he or she has rendered
distinguished service to the cause of
science, philosophy, art, literature, world
peace or human progress.
Nai Manzil to bridge lack of skills in

minorities
The Nai Manzil scheme announced in the
budget is something that the Minority
Affairs Ministry has been talking about
ever since the Modi Government assumed
office last year.
In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha
on July 16, 2014, the Ministry had listed
Nai Manzil as one of the steps being
taken by the Government for the welfare
of minorities.
It was billed as a bridge course to bridge
the academic and skill development gaps
of the deeni Madrasa passouts with their
mainstream counterparts.
Seven-and-a-half months later, Mr. Jaitley
flagged Nai Manzil as a scheme that will
be launched this year to enable minority
64

youth who do not have a formal schoolleaving certificate to obtain one and find
better employment.
The other minority community-related
programme that he flagged in the Budget
speech on Saturday pertained to showcasing the civilisation and culture of Parsis.
The Government will support an exhibition
The Everlasting Flame, he said.
The allocation for the Ministry is being
protected with an estimate of Rs. 3,738
crore. Last years budget had allocated Rs.
3,734 crore to the Ministry which was cut
down to Rs. 3,165 crore in the
revised estimates.
A bulk of this is for the Multi Sectoral
Development Programme for Minorities
and the other main claimants to the
allocation are the pre-matric and postmatric scholarships for minorities.
Vistara to have fleet size of 20 aircraft by
2018
Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons
and Singapore Airlines, said its fleet size
will be increased to 20 by 2018, from five
at present.
Phee Teik Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer,
Vistara (Tata SIA) Airlines Ltd also said
that the aviation industry in India is facing
challenges such as high fuel cost and a high
tax regime.
The airlines launched its first flight from
Hyderabad to New Delhi. Having started
with its operations on January 9, with 68
frequencies weekly, Vistara now operates
164 flights in a week.
Replying to a query on challenges that the
Indian Aviation Industry is facing, Mr.
Yeoh said government should work on
addressing the issues such as high aviation
turbine fuel coast which is 40-60 per cent
more expensive than other countries.
He also said that government must remove

the 5/20 rule five years of flying
experience, and a fleet size of 20 for
allowing domestic airlines to fly globally.
Justifying the launch of flights from
Hyderabad, he said it is due to the low sales
tax on ATF which formed one of the key
consideration to expand the network from
the capital of Telangana.
E-commerce transactions on aggregator
platforms turn costly
E-commerce transactions through websites
and mobile apps based on aggregator
model, including for cab services and
online shopping, may turn expensive as
those providing such services under their
own brand are being brought under the
service tax net.
The Finance Bill has proposed changes in
the Service Tax rules with respect to certain
ecommerce transactions involving
aggregator model, which may impact
online aggregator taxi services like Uber
and Ola Cabs.
There are also many online retail websites
that follow aggregator model. Under this
model, an entity does not produce or
warehouses any product itself, but collects
or aggregates information on goods or
services on one single platform from
several sources.
The aggregator draws customers to its
platform and allows them an easy
comparison of prices and specifications of
product or service offered by several
sellers.
As per the Finance Bill 2015, presented by
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in
Parliament, In respect of any service
provided under aggregator model, the
aggregator, or any of his representative
office located in India, is being made liable
65
to pay Service Tax if the service is so

provided using the brand name of the
aggregator
in
any manner.
If an aggregator does not have any
presence, including that by way of a
representative, in such a case any agent
appointed by the aggregator shall pay the
tax on behalf of the aggregator.
In this regard, appropriate amendments
have been made to the Service Tax Rules,
1994, it said, while adding that the change
has come into effect immediately, that is
w
i
t
h
effect from today.
As a result, such services will turn
expensive once the aggregators decide to
pass on the service tax levy to the
consumers.
According to leading law firm Khaitan &
Company, In respect of certain e
commerce service transactions, the person
liable to pay Service tax has now been
clearly specified.
For services offered under aggregator
model, the aggregator, or its representative
office in India would be now made liable
to pay Service tax if the service is provided
by using the brand name of the aggregator
in any manner.
If an aggregator does not have any
presence, then its agent will have to pay
the
tax,
the
law
firm clarified.
States will have

More spending Freedom: CEA
Chief Economic Adviser Arvind
Subramanian said that calculations showed
that the total transfers from the Centre to
the States as a percentage of the divisible
pool of its net tax revenue would remain
nearly the same even after the acceptance
of the 14th Finance Commissions

recommendations.
However, transfers from the Central
government would no longer be schemeand-grant-based, and it would rather be
devolution-based, leading to more
spending freedom for the States and that
would be a watershed change in the story
of Indian federalism.
In a presentation to reporters after Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the
Economic Survey 2014-15 in Parliament,
Dr. Subramanian said that in the last three
years, the Centre transferred, on an
average, 64 per cent of the divisible pool of
its net taxes to the States under various
heads.
This included the States share of 32 per
cent of the pool on account of the 13th
Finance Commissions award and the
Centres assistance to the States by way of
plan transfers.
The Centre would have had to transfer to
the States funds amounting to 65 per cent
of the pool had the recommendations of the
14th Finance Commission (which is for a
42 per cent States share against the 13th
Finance Commissions 32 per cent) applied
in the current year, he said.
The 14th Finance Commissions
recommendations do not apply in the
current year; they will be applicable for the
five-year period starting April 1.
With the share for the States in the pool
rising, the Centres plan transfers to the
States by way of assistance would
diminish, the Economic Survey indicated.
Balancing the enhanced fiscal autonomy
of the States with preserving fiscal space
of the Centre entails a reduction in the
Central assistance to the States, it said.
The Survey said the biggest gainers from
the 14th Finance Commissions award in
66

absolute terms under the general category
States are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and
Madhya Pradesh. Jammu & Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh and Assam are the most
benefited in the special category.
The 14th Finance Commissions
recommendations would add substantial
spending capacity to the States budgets,
the Survey said.
SC moved for CBI probe into Essar leaks
The Centre for Public Interest Litigation,
NGO which successfully fought the 2G
Spectrum scam case, moved the Supreme
Court for a CBI investigation into the nexus
between multi-billion dollar Essar Group
and top bureaucrats, journalists and
politicians, including Transport Minister
Nitin Gadkari and a host of UPA leaders.
The petition is based on internal emails and
documents leaked from Essar by a
whistleblower.
The petition, supported by a host of
annexures, mostly emails, alleged that
Essar not only sponsored high-end gifts but
also luxury travel of politicians and their
family members.
A series of emails details that Mr. Gadkari
and his family used Essar vice-chairman
Ravi Ruias 280-feet super luxury personal
yacht Sunrays for cruise in 2013 when he
was BJP president.
Liberalise FDI in retail for farm sector:
Survey
The Economic Survey said that by adopting
what it called the JAM Number Trinity
Jan Dhan Yojana accounts seeded with
Aadhaar numbers and operated through
mobile numbers would allow the States
to deliver the subsidies to the poor in a
targeted and less distorted manner.
Pointing to the lop-sidedness of policies, it
said Indias public expenditure on

agriculture was a fourth of the subsidy bill
on food and fertilizer.
In its recommendations for farm sector
reforms, it said liberalisation of foreign
direct investment (FDI) in retail could help
fill the massive investment and
infrastructure deficit which resulted in
supply-chain inefficiencies.
T h e
Narendra Modi governments stand has
been to disallow FDI in multi-brand retail.
The Survey also found that Indias
manufacturing was skill-intensive, which
was not in line with the countrys
comparative advantage in unskilled labour
and recommended rebalancing of policies:
While Make in India occupies
prominence as an important goal, the
future trajectory of Indian Development
depends on both it and Skilling India.
SCO: Russia to push for Indias full
membership
Russia will push for Indias full
membership in the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) during the upcoming
meeting it is hosting in July, said Sergey E.
Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian State
Duma. India is currently an observer in the
multilateral grouping.
The SCO, founded in 2001, comprises
Russia, China and several Central Asian
republics and is seen as a counter to the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO).
Russia is also pushing for deeper
engagement among the BRICS (BrazilRussia-India-China-South Africa) group as
well as the Russia-India-China (RIC) troika.
Mr. Naryshkin said it was logical to turn
BRICS into a full scale strategic forum for
discussing issues of mutual interest.
67
Russia is scheduled to take over

chairmanship of the BRICS grouping and
the next summit will be held in Russia in
July.
Govt. digs in heels on land ordinance
A day after Surface Transport Minister
Nitin Gadkari sought to make out a case
for the governments land ordinance at a
press briefing, Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley made a spirited defence of the land
reforms that have been denounced as antifarmer and pro-corporate by a united
Opposition and civil society groups.
Mr. Jaitleys speech in the Rajya Sabha is
being read as the governments definitive
stand, the position that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has decided to take on this
controversial issue.
Mr. Modi is absolutely clear that he will
not allow major changes to what he sees as
one of his key reforms.
In discussions with Cabinet colleagues on
how to tackle the dissent, Mr. Modi
indicated that an all-party meeting would
serve little purpose since the Opposition
had shown no signs of softening.
Worse, BJP allies Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv
Sena and Lok Janshakti Party also
expressed their reservations. Now it is
learnt that another NDA partner, the
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, is poised to
do the same.
Against this backdrop of a hardened stand,
Mr. Jaitley made a frontal attack on the
Congress, under whose watch the Land
Acquisition Act that this government is
seeking to amend was enacted in 2013.
President clears Amitava Roys elevation as
SC judge
Flagging it as proof that there is no friction
between the government and the highest
judiciary in appointment of judges, the

government has acted quickly to get the
Presidents approval for the elevation of
Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Amitava
Roy as a Supreme Court judge.
The notification on his appointment would
be issued as soon as the papers reached the
Law Ministry from the Presidents office.
Union Law Minister V. Sadananda Gowda
said the judicial appointments through the
collegium system would continue for the
time being.
The apex court had two more vacancies and
there were several vacancies to fill in the
various High Courts.
With the appointment of 62-year-old
Justice Roy, the strength of judges in the
Supreme Court climbs to 29. The
sanctioned strength is 31.
Bureaucrats reshuffled
The Narendra Modi-led Appointments
Committee of the Cabinet approved a
series of Secretary-level transfers.
Secretary, Department of Health and
Family Welfare, Bhanu Pratap Sharma, has
been given additional charge of
Department of Health Research for three
months, whereas Siraj Hussain has been
shifted as Secretary, Department of
Agriculture and Cooperation from the
Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
Special Secretary, Department of
Agriculture and Cooperation, Ranglal
Jamuda, has been appointed Secretary,
Ministry of Food Processing Industries, in
place of Mr. Hussain.
S.M. Vijayanand, Special Secretary in the
Department of Rural Development, has
been made Secretary, Ministry of
Panchayati Raj, whereas Jugal Kishore
Mohapatra, Secretary, Department of
Fertilisers, has been appointed Secretary,
Department of Rural Development.
68

Irom Sharmila gets Sthree Shakti award
Panel against trying juveniles as adults
Activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on

an indefinite fast since November 4, 2000,
demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act, has been conferred
with the Sthree Shakti award.
The award is in recognition of her
extraordinary courage and determination,
M.L. George, managing trustee of Smaraks
Sthree Trust, Kochi, told reporters.
Section 66A a necessary deterrent, says
government
The government argued before the
Supreme Court that Section 66A of the
Information Technology Act should be
interpreted on a case by case basis.
In arguments which continued through the
day before a Bench led by Justice J.
Chelameswar, the government was
addressing the courts view that the penal
provision was too vague. Section 66A
prescribes a three-year jail term to a person
found guilty of causing annoyance or
inconvenience through social media.
The court had asked the government to
explain what constituted grossly
offensive. The government maintained
that the provision was a necessary
deterrent and could not be cast away on
the apprehension that it would be misused
to affect the freedom of speech and
expression.
The court is hearing a bunch of petitions
challenging the validity of certain
provisions in the 2000 Act. One of the
petitions filed is by Shreya Singhal, a law
student, which deals with the arrest of two
girls, Shaheen Dhada and Rinu
Shrinivasan, in Thane, Maharashtra, in
connection with a comment against the
shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena
leader Bal Thackerays death.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee has

taken on board civil societys
apprehensions of treating 16-to-18-yearolds as adults in cases of heinous crimes,
and called for a review of this provision in
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection
of Children) Bill, 2014, introduced in the
Lok Sabha in August.
This amendment to the JJ Act is among the
slew of changes that the UPA Government
had initiated in various laws of the country
following the huge public outcry over the
Delhi gang rape.
A juvenile was among the accused and the
brutality of his actions prepared the ground
for proposing differential treatment to
juveniles in the 16-18 age group in case of
heinous crimes.
In its report in the Lok Sabha, the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Human
Resource
Development
recommended that all relevant clauses
dealing with Childrens Courts, and
differential treatment of children between
16 and 18 years need to be reviewed as
subjecting them to an adult judicial system
goes against Articles 14 and 15(3) of the
Constitution.
Under pressure, government agrees to
consult all parties
A united Opposition, backed by sustained
protests outside, compelled the Modi
government to agree to consult leaders of
all parties to find a way out of the Land
Acquisition Bill imbroglio.
However, the government, despite
pressure from both the Opposition and RSS
affiliates, sources said, is reluctant to give
in and make all the changes suggested, as
then, the final product will resemble the
69
original Land Acquisition Act.

At BJP parliamentary party meeting, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi urged MPs to
explain the Bills provisions to their
constituents to counter the Oppositions
criticism.
The government-Opposition stand-off in
Parliament on five other ordinances
continued, with each side registering a
minor victory of its own. Simultaneously,
the NDAs parliamentary managers tried
to create public opinion to use the
infrequently deployed provision of a joint
session.
Swachh Bharat, food subsidy need huge
funds
If an allocation of Rs. 40,000 crore is made
in the Union Budget for 2015-16 for the
Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan as required, there
will be enough money to build toilets for
Indias 12.3 crore households without
them, but if this will achieve zero open
defecation is a different story.
Not everyone with a toilet is convinced of
the need to use one, yet the share of public
outreach in the recast schemes Budget fell
to under 10 per cent, Payal Hathi of the
Research Institute for Compassionate
Economics, which studies sanitation,
found, and over half of this remains
unspent, Accountability Initiative has
shown.
The food subsidy, including the Public
Distribution System, the mid-day meal
scheme and other nutrition programmes
cost the government Rs. 1.25 lakh crore in
its last Budget, and would need to rise to
Rs 1.5 lakh crore with an additional Rs.
12,000 crore in maternity benefits for the
government to meet its obligations under
the National Food Security Act.
Harvard researcher offers free online legal

research tool for students
An online legal research initiative started
by an Indian student research fellow with
the Harvard Law School Centre offers a
level playing field for his counterparts
spread across 140 law schools and colleges
in the country.
The Standard India Legal Citation (SILC),
an online India-centric legal citation
manual which can be accessed free of cost,
provides legal research material ranging
from parliamentary debates, circulars of
government bodies like RBI and SEBI to
academic papers on Indian family laws to
help law students with their academic
work.
Citations help readers easily find reference
to cases and facts.
India, Russia sort out differences on fighter
jet project
India and Russia have generally agreed
upon the amount and division of work
during the research and development
(R&D) stage of the fifth generation fighter
aircraft (FGFA) project.
A contract for the R&D phase is being
prepared and expected to be signed this
year, said Yuli Slyusar, president and
chairman of Russias United Aircraft
Corporation (UAC) at Aero India 2015 in
Bengaluru.
The work share of Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) has been a contentious issue
as the project will have equal investment
between India and Russia and is likely to
cost over $30 billion for about 400 aircraft.
India plans to induct 144 of them.
But HALs share in the work has been
limited to a meagre 13 per cent so far which
will not build any critical technological
gains.
70

Both sides have been holding discussions
to sort this out before the final agreement.
FGFA is crucial for Indian Air Forces
evolving structure as was recently
acknowledged by the air chief recently.
The final announcement could come later
this year with President Pranab Mukherjee
visiting Moscow in June, and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi expected to visit
Russia twice.
Modi suit fetches Rs. 4.31-cr in auction
Prime Minister Narendra Modis
monogrammed suit fetched Rs. 4.31 crore
as bidders scrambled to own the two-piece
ensemble in the final moments of the threeday auction that ended at 5 p.m.
Lalji Patel, a diamond trader, and his son,
Hitesh Patel, are the new owners of the suit
that Mr. Modi wore during a meeting with
U.S. President Barack Obama on January
25.
With a reportedly Rs. 10-lakh price and the
name Narendra Damodardas Modi
embroidered down the length of the fabric
to look like golden pinstripes, the navyblue bandhgala suit had raised a
controversy.
Bids flew thick and fast in the last hour of
the auction, which had no base price.
District Collector, Surat, Rajendra Kumar
said bids, one of Rs. 5 crore, received after
the deadline had been disqualified.
Mr. Lalji Patel, who owns the
Dharmananda Diamond Company, told
presspersons that he wanted to do
something for the country, and the auction
gave him an opportunity.
China protests
PMs Arunachal visit
China expressed its diametrical
opposition to Prime Minister Narendra
Modis visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Hua Chunying said that China had lodged
strong representation with India, that it
was not conducive to properly resolving
and controlling disputes between the two
sides, nor in conformity with the general
situation of growth of bilateral relations,
Xinhua quoted her as saying.
In a statement posted in English on the
Chinese Foreign Ministry website, Ms. Hua
urged the Indian side to take Chinas
solemn concerns seriously, meet the
Chinese side halfway and commit itself to
fairly and properly resolving the bilateral
boundary question through negotiation.
The Xinhua report said that Mr. Modi
visited a disputed zone in the eastern part
of China-India borders to participate in
activities marking the founding of the socalled Arunachal Pradesh, a State that
Indian authorities illegally and
unilaterally declared in 1987.
Centre defends pictures of politicians in ads
Noting that there was nothing mala fide
in publishing photographs of the Prime
Minister, political leaders and higher
authorities
in
government
advertisements, the Centre said it was the
prerogative of a democratically elected
government to decide its expenses and the
Supreme Court could not interfere.
Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi told a
Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi that
an ulterior motive of trying to gain
political mileage could not be read into
every government advertisement
published with the photographs of political
leaders. He submitted that any restriction
on government advertisements even before
their publication would amount to precensorship.
71
The court was debating if it should make

into law a recommendation by a Supreme
Court-appointed high-power committee,
led by eminent academic N.R. Madhava
Menon, that names and pictures of political
parties and their office-bearers should not
be
mentioned
in
government
advertisements.
The committee, in a report to the court in
October 2014, said that such
advertisements were instances of selfaggrandisement and misuse of public
money. It has framed a series of guidelines
to regulate expenditure and contents of
government advertisements in order to
keep politics out of ads.
Prashant Bhushan, counsel of petitioner
Common Cause, said such advertisements
were harmful instances of patronage of
media houses by the government.
Mr. Rohatgi said such guidelines were
unnecessary as a constitutional framework
was in place to regulate expenses. All
expenses of the government are provided
through the Appropriation Bills passed by
Parliament. Every penny spent is audited.
There is a constitutional requirement for
audit. The Comptroller and Auditor
General will check. These guidelines have
limited value, Mr. Rohatgi said.
Amartya Sen to
Leave Nalanda Post
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen withdrew his
candidature for a second term as
Chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar,
since the Narendra Modi government had
not given its approval to his nomination.
More than a month had passed since the
Board made the unanimous choice that he
should serve as Chancellor of the university
for a second term.
In a letter to members of the Governing
Board, he said there was a unanimous

resolution in January that he should have
another term, but the President as Visitor
was not able to give his assent to it.
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said
academic governance in the country
remained deeply vulnerable to the
opinions of the ruling government, where
it chose to make political use of special
provisions in a universitys statute.
Defence at the
heart of Make in India
Stressing on the need for domestic
manufacture of defence equipment to
equip the country for the future, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi called upon
foreign defence manufacturers to become
strategic partners as he inaugurated Aero
India 2015 in Bengaluru.
India has an annual defence budget of
about $40 billion of which 60 percent is
spent on capital expenditure for purchase
of equipment. But having failed to build a
domestic defence manufacturing base the
country has the distinction of being the
worlds largest defence importer.
Addressing the private sectors concerns
for a level playing field in defence
manufacturing, the Prime Minister has
assured significant policy changes to
facilitate the same.
Legendary filmmaker Ramanaidu is no more
Legendary film producer Daggubati
Ramanaidu, who entered the record books
for producing maximum number of films
in the world died, leaving a void in the
Indian film industry.
Rama Naidu established the well-known
film house Suresh Productions after his
elder son Suresh and produced about 150
72

films in most of the Indian languages with
Telugu topping the list. Considered as an
icon, he introduced several new faces and
directors through his film company.
Recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award for
life time achievement in 2009 and also
Padma Bhushan in 2012 in recognition of
his contribution to Indian cinema,
Ramanaidu also holds the record for
producing films in many languages in
India including Bhojpuri and Punjabi.
Born in an agricultural family in
Karamchedu in Guntur district of Andhra
Pradesh, Mr. Ramanaidu also represented
the Bapatla constituency in Parliament
during 1999 - 2004 getting elected on the
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ticket.
Some of his well-known films include
Prem Nagar, Mundadugu, Soggadu,
Jeevana
Tarangalu,
Devatha,
Sangharshana, Prathidwani, Aha Na
Pellanta, Prema, Indrudu Chandrudu and
the latest being Gopala Gopala starring
Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan. Some of his
runaway hits in Hindi include Tohfa, Insaf
Ki Awaz and Prem Qaidi in which he
introduced Karishma Kapoor. The entire
film industry landed at his residence to pay
their last respects.
BJP, PDP propose phased withdrawal of
AFSPA
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will have
a lot of explaining to do to their respective
constituencies if they tie up. The task is
harder for the BJP and difficult to pull off,
unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi
throws his weight fully behind it.
During the talks the point came up that
while the Army has in practice already
diluted the impunity of troops under the
AFSPA, its continuing application in the
entire State is bringing a bad name to New

Delhi. Both parties are working towards a
scheme to roll back the law in a phased
manner.
While the BJP has been open to engaging
the separatists and Pakistan and to address
the concerns regarding the AFSPA, the
most difficult of all issues is formulating a
position acceptable to both parties on the
States special status. The proposal on the
table is for the CMP to keep all contentious
issues in suspension for discussion in a
future mechanism, a roundtable.
Two other questions on the BJP agenda that
are sensitive in the Valley are delimitation
of constituencies in the State, and the status
of those who crossed over to Jammu from
what became Pakistan in 1947. These issues
also will have to be suspended, for the CMP
to take shape.
Malnourishment high among children of
migrants: study
The level of malnourishment is high among
children whose parents migrate in search
of livelihood. Inherent malnourishment in
mothers, lack of food and nutrition
security, feeding and dietary practices and
illnesses are some of the reasons identified
for high levels of malnourishment.
A study Understanding hunger and
malnutrition among high migrant
communities conducted in south
Rajasthan by Aajeevika Bureau and
EdelGive Foundation has revealed that
more than half the children were
underweight in those communities where
migration was high. Stunting or retarded
growth was reported in 53 per cent of the
children with 28 per cent of them severely
so; 33 per cent are wasted (debilitated
growth) with over 9 per cent of them
severely so and one-fourth severely
73
underweight. South Rajasthan broadly

Udaipur division is a semi-arid region
with a largely tribal population which
owns small land holdings. Small land
holdings are unable to help them sustain a
livelihood which results in high levels of
migration.
Each panchayat, where the study was done,
had 550-600 migrants. The study was done
in four panchayats in one block two had
high levels of migrations and the other two
low migration.
The sample of 884 households, which had
less than three children, was picked up
from 13 villages.
A total of 695 children under the age of
three were weighed and measured as were
607 mothers. The median BMI (body mass
index) of mothers was 18.1 with 58 per cent
having a BMI of less than 18.5. An analysis
has suggested inter-generational transfer of
under-nutrition. When the mother is undernourished, children are 1.8 times more
likely to have severe malnutrition.
Also, less availability of food items, small
land holdings resulting in low produce and
caring practices caused malnutrition. Roti
was the only food item eaten by children
daily and more than 60 per cent had access
to it. Only 58 per cent were breastfed, and
less than one per cent had daliya (porridge)
which is supposed to be highly nutritious.
The study further shows that children of
migrating families were less likely to be
enrolled at the anganwadi centres where
the government provides supplementary
food to pre-school children. Importantly,
the anganwadi centres were less functional
in areas with high migrating population.
When a mother goes for work, the primary
caretakers are grandparents in 57 per cent
of the cases, father in just 4 per cent and
elder brother in 5 per cent.

Coastal security is a challenge says R.K.
Dhowan
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral R.K.
Dhowan, said that coastal security is a big
challenge and patrolling has been stepped
in coastal areas in the past few months.
In the last few months, we are on high
state of alert and have deployed Navy
units, ships, aircraft and unmanned aerial
vehicles in the coastal areas, he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the second
Admiral R.L. Pereira Memorial Lecture
function, Admiral Dhowan said dealing
with non-state actors was always a difficult
situation.
Asked about the boat allegedly carrying
explosives for a possible terror attack near
the Gujarat coast recently, he said: Coastal
security is a big challenge and we have a
huge coastline of 7,516 km and extensive
economic zone of over two million sq km.
There are nearly 5,000 merchant ships
operating and over 2.4 lakh fishing boats
in the area. To maintain surveillance, the
Navy had put in place the National
Command and Control Communication
System and Intelligence System, Admiral
Dhowan said.
Threat perception in the Indian Ocean
region is wide and varied. There is threat
of asymmetric warfare and other maritime
threats that could emanate from the region
for the country. India is fully concerned and
is ready to defend its seas, he said.
NFIR opposes FDI in Railways
The National Federation of Indian
Railwaymen (NFIR) has vehemently
opposed the Centres proposal for FDI in
Railways and threatened to go on indefinite
strike in June this year.
74

According to NFIR General Secretary M.
Raghaviah, there is no need for FDI in
Railways. Governments move to slowly
hand over the Railways to foreign hands is
like the entry of East India Company,
which ruled the country later, he said.
NFIR has offered the Railway Ministry to
take loan from the Provident Fund of the
Railway employees and repay them in due
course for funding certain viable projects.
NFIR is strongly against FDI in Railways
and will oppose it tooth and nail, Mr.
Raghaviah told reporters on the sidelines
of Zonal Conference of its affiliated unit
Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS).
He said if the government wants to raise
money for certain new projects, it would
be appropriate on their part to decide the
priority and viability of the project and
utilise the PF to certain extent.
Mr. Raghaviah further said that a small
amount can be taken from their salaries as
loan for similar purpose. NFIR had
discussed the issue of their opposition of
FDI with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu
and had apprised him of the lurking danger
in FDI, he said.
NFIR, which represents a majority union,
has accused the government of ignoring
safety aspects in the Railways, and not
filling vacant posts in the operating and
allied departments.
Listing measures to augment revenue of the
Railways, Mr. Raghaviah said passenger
fare should be hiked and more facilities
should be provided to them.
People are willing to pay extra provided
you extend good facilities including
catering, he said. Railways should
discontinue paying Rs. 9,000 crore
dividend to the Government, he said and
questioned the facility of senior citizen
concession.
World Ramayana
Conference in Bengaluru
The Ramayana Research Foundation in
Bengaluru has organised a three-day
World Ramayana conference from January
23 to 25 at the National College Grounds.
Fifty scholars from across India will present
papers on varied subjects. Sanskrit scholar
Satya Vrat Shastri, politician Subramanian
Swamy, scholar Bannanje Govindacharya
and Mani Dravid will participate in a
national debate on January 24.
Valmiki Sanman will be conferred on
Sanskrit scholars Satya Vrat Shastri and
K.S. Narayanacharya on January 25.
Shobana will present dance ballets on
January 23, and Nirupama Rajendra will
do so on January 25.
NGOs oppose panel report on
environmental laws
Environmental NGOs voiced opposition to
the report of the high-level committee
(HLC) on environmental laws during a
hearing of the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Science and Technology,
Environment and Forests.
The Standing Committee earlier invited
responses on the HLC after it was
submitted last year and seemed
determined
to
hear
as
many
representations as it could on the report.
Committee chairperson Ashwani Kumar
said there was a lot of disquiet in the media
over the report and one criticism was that
it was done in a hurry.
A number of NGOs made representations
before the Committee. The representatives
included the former Environment Secretary
Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Sunita Narain from the
Centre for Science and Environment;
Belinda Wright from the Wildlife
Protection Society of India; Dr. K. Ullas
75
Karanth, Centre for Wildlife Studies; Dr.

Asad Rahmani, Bombay Natural History
Society; and Ritwick Dutta, Legal Initiative
for Forest and Environment.
While the report of the HLC chaired by
former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R.
Subramanian was not tabled in Parliament,
Mr. Kumar said there were a number of
requests for hearing opinions on the report
and there was a feeling that it would
weaken environmental laws.
He declined to express his own view on the
report and clarified that he didnt think a
review of the report was outside the scope
of the Standing Committee.
He said this issue was very much in the
public domain and the report had gone to
the government and there were
apprehensions about some of the
recommendations.
The Standing Committee discussed various
issues of national importance and since
there was so much disquiet among
environmentalists, it was only fair that MPs
were apprised of the report, he said.
However, he said there was no time frame
to come up with a review after hearing all
the stakeholders concerned and since the
environmental laws had to be considered,
it could not be done in haste.
Union Minister of State for Environment
Prakash Javadekar had said amendments
to environmental laws would be brought
about in the budget session based on the
recommendations of the HLC.
Where is the need for law on defacement of

properties: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has posed a question

to the government authorities on the need
for a legislation on defacement of
properties in the Capital when a policy on
outdoor advertisements was already in
existence.
The question pertained to the Delhi

Prevention of Defacement of Property
(DPDP) Act adopted in 2009. A Division
Bench comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini
and Justice R.S. Endlaw asked the Delhi
Government earlier this week to clarify its
stand on the issue by January 12.
The Court was hearing a writ petition
moved by the Aam Aadmi Party and a city
resident, Anil Bhatia, challenging the action
for removal of posters from the houses of
people.
The petitioners said the move amounted to
denial of right to freedom of speech of the
citizens who had willingly put up the
posters on their property.
The petition contended that the DPDP Act
should not be invoked when the posters or
banners were put up on the houses and
other buildings with the consent of their
owners.
The petition was filed after the Delhi Police
removed posters from private properties of
AAP supporters and threatened them with
action under the Act.
U.S Secretary calls for greater Indo-US
economic ties
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pushed
for expansion of India-US commercial ties
and praised Prime Minister Narendra
Modis commitment to the area of wind
energy.
The worlds oldest democracy and the
largest democracy can help to forge an era
of shared prosperity and security. Trade
between India and the U.S. has increased
five-fold since 2001.
We can do more together. I want our
economic relationship to grow stronger in
every aspect. We must do more together
and we must do it faster. We share PM
Modis goal of increasing our countrys
76
annual trade fivefold.

We want to expand our commercial ties
with India and our bilateral trade to
increase five-fold, Mr. Kerry said in his
address at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit
2015. He expressed awe at the
entrepreneurial passion he saw in the
entrepreneurs of Delhi, Mumbai and
Bangalore on his several visits to India.
Our founding documents begin with the
exact same words We the people and our
innovators and entrepreneurs are
constantly pushing the curve of discovery,
he said.
In the wake of the huge numbers of people
in extreme poverty, Mr. Kerry pointed to
endless possibilities in terms of setting
up schools, hospitals, roads, energy grid
and developing tourism.
However, the threat of climate change was
an enormous cloud hanging over the
world. Global climate change is violently
affecting communities and disrupting
commerce, development and economic
growth around the world.
It is costing farmers crops. It is costing
insurance companies unbelievable
payouts. If we continue down the current
trendline, we will see climate refugees
fighting for food and water.
In the light of this situation, Mr. Kerry
expressed hope that the Indo-US could
ensure sustainable development and
opportunities for economic growth and
prosperity.
India can lead smart growth says Ban Ki

Moon
Raising concerns over the impact of climate
change, world leaders laid thrust on
renewable energy and sustainable
development at the Vibrant Gujarat
Summit. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon urged investors to shape and agree

on the post-2015 development agenda with
a set of sustainable development goals.
He set 2030 as the target to provide
universal access to energy to all seven
billion people in the world, double energy
efficiency and double the use of renewable
energy.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modis
smart city initiative for encouraging the use
of renewable energy and energy efficiency,
Mr. Ban urged the Indian business
community to lead the transformation we
need to achieve sustainable development
and inclusive growth.
India is in a unique position to lead the
move towards sustainability, the U.N.
Secretary-General said. The Summit saw
participation by 8,500 delegates, including
2500 foreign delegates from around 120
countries and about 30 world leaders from
the field of politics and business.
Large conglomerates from India and
abroad announced huge investment and
job creation plans. While Reliance
Industries chief Mukesh Ambani said his
group would invest Rs. 1 lakh crore in 1218 months across businesses, Kumar
Mangalam Birla of Aditya Birla Group
announced investment plans for Rs. 20,000
crore in the State.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cited the
Centres recent decisions to invite foreign
investment in Railways, Defence and
Insurance. Projecting India as a 3D
investment destination, Mr. Modi said the
country had democracy, demography and
demand.
FM expects
GST to take effect in 2016
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he
expected the government to implement the
77
common Goods and Services Tax (GST)

across the country in the course of next
year.
Mr. Jaitley presented the GST Bill in
parliament last year. It needs the support
of two-thirds of its members as well as
ratification by State legislatures.
The Bill, which was returned, authorises
payment and appropriation of certain
additional sums from and out of the
Consolidated Fund of India for 2014-15. It
was passed by Lok Sabha on December 10.
Describing the GST reform as a win-win
situation for both the Centre and the
States, the Finance Minister had said the
Bill would not have fear of the unknown
unlike Value Added Tax (VAT).
Investors and manufacturers have long
coveted the GST as a game-changer that
would simplify taxes while broadening the
tax base, adding as much as 2 percentage
points to the size of Asias third-largest
economy.
CJIs remarks on PM inappropriate says Fali

S. Nariman
Senior advocate Fali S. Nariman, one of the
most respected legal voices in the country,
described Chief Justice of India H.L.
Dattus personal remarks about Prime
Minister Narendra Modi as inappropriate
and ill-advised.
But primarily, he said, the media should
not have, in the first place, publicised Mr.
Dattus personal remarks, reportedly
made during an informal interaction. Mr.
Nariman was responding to remarks
reportedly made by Mr. Dattu to reporters
about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The interaction was variously described in
newspaper reports as informal and
rare. National dailies and channels
reported the CJI as saying, I had met the
Prime Minister four times and I would rate

him as a good leader, a good human being,
a man with foresight who would strive for
good governance.
After asking, whether it was proper for a
sitting Chief Justice to make such
comments (published widely) on a serving
Prime Minister. And even if his views are
personal, should he have expressed them
in public during an interaction with the
media. What is the protocol for serving
judges in this regard and have there been
such incidents in the past?
Mr. Nariman said: My initial response to
the reported comments of the CJI in the
press is that what was said at an informal
interaction [as you call it] is not to be
publicised. But since the remarks have now
been reported, I would describe them as
inappropriate and ill-advised: because
they send the wrong signals especially to
people looking for wrong signals!
But what has not made the headlines in
any newspaper is that the CJI also
reportedly said during his informal chat
with journalists that there must always
exist tension between the Executive and the
Judiciary Correctly said.
Janata Parivar merger to be formalised
soon
A day after Janata Dal (United) president
Sharad Yadav said the JD(U) and the
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) would merge
first in Bihar, he made a U-turn saying the
merger would be formalised with all the
six parties coming together in Delhi.
The grand merger will be formalised with
all six parties joining it in Delhi, said RJD
chief Lalu Yadav, participating in a social
gathering organised by the State party chief
on Makar Sankranti.
Mr. Prasad, who made arrangements for a
78
feast at his residence, however, declared

that the grand merger of all six parties
would be officially announced by Mr.
Mulayam Singh soon in Delhi.
The announcement has already been
done, and Mulayam Singh will officially
announce it soon. Should everybody keep
on announcing it? asked the RJD chief.
The JD(U) Rajya Sabha member and party
spokesperson K C Tyagi said next week
some good news regarding the grand
merger may come. Merger of all old
Janata Parivar parties will soon be a
reality, reiterated INLD leader Ajay
Chautala, who attended the Makar
Sankranti feast.
Several party leaders of the Janata Parivar
attended feasts organised by State JD(U)
president Basistha Narayan Singh and Mr.
Prasad. However, senior JD(U) leader and
former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did
not participate as he was indisposed, while
Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi joined the
banquets.
Reacting to State BJP leader Sushil Kumar
Modis statement that the merger was coldshouldered by Mr. Mulayam Singh, Mr.
Prasad shot back, Has Sushil Kumar Modi
left the BJP and become the spokesperson
of Samajwadi Party? making it clear that
they [all the six socialist parties] were
together.
Taking a dig at the Prime Ministers Swacch
Bharat Abhiyan, Mr. Prasad said the
cleaning department was with the BJP and
the people of India had given it the
responsibility.
SC asks government for update on Ganga

clean-up projects
The Supreme Court asked the NDA
government if there was any chance of
cleaning up the Ganga river during its
current term in power. Solicitor-General

Ranjit Kumar submitted that a consortium
of IITs was preparing a road map for
cleaning the river.
He said the government was proposing a
total of 80 sewage treatment plants (STPs)
which would process, in a day, 368 million
litres of water flowing into the river in the
five river basin States.
The court directed the government to
present the status of 31 ongoing projects of
STPs and 15 others which were in the
bidding stage.
The hearing primarily focused on the
domestic sewage flowing into the river. In
October 2014, the Bench had referred to the
National Green Tribunal the responsibility
of monitoring and inspecting industrial
units along the river and even cut off their
water and power connections if they were
found to be polluting.
The Supreme Court has been hearing this
petition since the early 1980s. Numerous
orders have been passed by it, directing the
authorities to protect the river. The petition
was filed by lawyer M.C. Mehta
highlighting the alarming state of the river
and its depletion owing to pollution.
SC asks government for update on Ganga

clean-up projects
The Supreme Court asked the NDA
government if there was any chance of
cleaning up the Ganga river during its
current term in power. Solicitor-General
Ranjit Kumar submitted that a consortium
of IITs was preparing a road map for
cleaning the river.
He said the government was proposing a
total of 80 sewage treatment plants (STPs)
which would process, in a day, 368 million
litres of water flowing into the river in the
five river basin States.
79
The court directed the government to

present the status of 31 ongoing projects of
STPs and 15 others which were in the
bidding stage.
The hearing primarily focused on the
domestic sewage flowing into the river. In
October 2014, the Bench had referred to the
National Green Tribunal the responsibility
of monitoring and inspecting industrial
units along the river and even cut off their
water and power connections if they were
found to be polluting.
The Supreme Court has been hearing this
petition since the early 1980s. Numerous
orders have been passed by it, directing the
authorities to protect the river. The petition
was filed by lawyer M.C. Mehta
highlighting the alarming state of the river
and its depletion owing to pollution.
Government allows direct sale of bio-diesel
by manufacturers
In a bid to augment supply of environment
friendly fuel, the government allowed
private manufacturers of bio-diesel to sell
it directly to consumers like Indian
Railways.
Till now, only state-owned oil firms and
only those private firms investing Rs 2,000
crore in oil infrastructure were allowed to
retail petrol and diesel. Bio-diesel, which
is to be doped in diesel before being used
to fire automobiles, too was clubbed under
this rule.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi gave its approval
for amending the Motor Spirit (petrol) and
High Speed Diesel (diesel) control order for
Regulation of Supply, Distribution and
Prevention of Malpractices dated
December 19, 2005, said an official
statement.
The amendment will allow private bio-
diesel manufacturers, their authorised

dealers and joint ventures of oil marketing
companies (OMCs) authorised by the
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
(MoP&NG) as dealers and give marketing
/distribution functions to them for the
limited purpose of supply of bio-diesel to
consumers, it said.
Also, the Rs 2,000 crore investment will
also be relaxed and a new clause added to
give marketing rights for bio-diesel to the
private bio-diesel manufacturers, their
authorised dealers and JVs of OMCs
authorised by the MoP&NG for direct sales
to consumers, it said.
The amendment was made because users
faced problems in sourcing bio-diesel.
State-owned firms had their financial
consideration because cost of bio-diesel
was more than the refinery-gate price of
diesel.
With the relaxation, bulk users like
Railways can buy bio-diesel directly from
manufacturers and dope in diesel for
running locomotives. This decision will
encourage the production and use of biodiesel in the country, the statement said.
Sri Lankas new govt. to start ties with India
on a clean slate
Sri Lankas new government will start its
relationship with India on a clean slate,
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera
told ahead of his departure to New Delhi.
Coinciding with his trip, the Sri Lankan
government released 15 Indian fishermen
in its custody, and officials said the Sri
Lankan fishermen, currently in Indian
prisons, were also being released.
Mr. Samaraweera said the visit was
intended to put the two countries
relationship back on track after it was at
times strained when President Mahinda
80
Rajapaksas government was in power.

In addition to holding bilateral discussions
with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj,
Minister Samaraweera will meet Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, National Security
Advisor Ajit Doval and Congress President
Sonia Gandhi over the next couple of days.
Following Sri Lankas January 8 elections
in which President Rajapaksa was defeated
by his former Cabinet member, New Delhi
wasted no time in reaching out to the new
leadership.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the
first international leader to congratulate
President Maithripala Sirisena, just as clear
signs of his victory began emerging on the
morning of January 9.
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj called Mr.
Samaraweera soon after he assumed charge
as Foreign Minister and invited him to New
Delhi. The two leaders are long time
friends, and have interacted closely when
they held the telecommunications portfolio
on either side of the Palk Strait in the 1990s.
The fact that as Foreign Minister I have
undertaken my first overseas visit to India
signifies the importance that President
Sirisenas government places on
strengthening and improving bilateral ties
with India, Mr. Samaraweera said.
Union Cabinet clears FM radio channels

auctions
The Union Cabinet cleared the third phase
of auction of FM radio channels, expected
to fetch Rs. 550 crore to the government.
A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, approved the
auction, while also clearing migration
[renewal] of 135 private FM radio licences
from the second to the third phase in 69
cities. Several more private channels will
hence start operations in those cities.
By the recommendations of the Telecom

Regulatory Authority of India, migration
requires payment of a fee. As many as 243
private FM channels operate in 86 cities in
26 States and three Union Territories.
The auction process will add an estimated
revenue of over Rs. 550 crore to the national
exchequer on successful auctions of all
proposed channels.
Besides, it will beget the amount realised
through the migration process which is
dependent on the TRAI-recommended
formula, where migration fee is linked to
the discovery of market prices through the
FM Radio Phase III auction, the Cabinet
statement said.
GAIL pipeline
Catches fire in Delhi
Four cars were completely charred and a
man was injured after an Indraprsatha gas
pipeline caught fire in South Delhis Moti
Bagh. The pipeline was reportedly
perforated by civic construction contractors
working at a site nearby.
The fire at the high-pressure pipeline
occurred around 9-30 a.m. near
Venkateshwara College in Satyaniketan. It
carries gas to consumers like Maruti Udyog
in Gurgaon.
A police officer said: The incident took
place when some PWD workers carrying
out digging work in the place accidentally
punctured the pipeline. They were testing
the soil in the area for construction of an
elevated flyover and happened to hit the
pipeline.
Construction for the elevated corridor was
being carried out by PWD appointed
Hindustan Construction Company.
Workers of HCCs local contractors
allegedly perforated the underground
pipeline while using a drill machine.
81
While the workers fled after the incident,

the gas leaked from the pipeline and spread
in a small area. It soon caught fire.
An auto-rickshaw driver who was passing
by at the time of the incident suffered
superficial injuries on his face and stomach.
The injured driver was identified as
Ramprakash (40). He was discharged after
first aid.
Four cars parked nearby the spot were
completely gutted in the incident. With the
help of army personnel, the remaining cars
were removed from the area and locals
were evacuated. We have registered an FIR
in this connection, the officer added.
The incident which took place in the middle
of the residential area and shopping
complex was contained through swift
action by army officials, fire services,
policemen and GAIL.
The supply of gas at both ends of the
pipeline was shut immediately. This
helped in bringing the situation under
control, the fire official said.
IITs, IIMs to
roll out free online courses
Union Human Resource Development
Minister Smriti Irani announced the launch
of free online courses by premier institutes
such as the Indian Institutes of Technology
(IITs) and the Indian Institutes
Management (IIMs) from the current year.
Ms. Irani said that as part of the digital
initiatives and education reforms launched
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
consultations on the New Education Policy
would begin on January 26.
A nominal fee would be charged for
certification of various online courses. It
would be free for people with special
abilities and those belonging to the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Literature Festival to showcase Rajasthans

heritage
The rich heritage of Rajasthan is set to come
alive as the annual ZEE Jaipur Literature
Festival showcases the vibrant culture of
the State to the over 2 lakh visitors expected
for the event.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje
will inaugurate the event. Rajasthani
musicians Nathoo Solanki, Chugge Khan
and the Jaisalmer Boys will open the
worlds largest free literary festival with the
sounds of their traditional music which has
become synonymous with the first day of
the festival.
Also on the opening day, musicologist John
Napier and Shanti Raman will speak of the
tradition and challenges in archiving the
oral history of the Nath Jogis. They will be
joined by jogi performer Kishori Nath who
will recite and perform from an ancient
bardic repertoire.
Pahlaj Nihalani is
Censor board chief
The government put in place an entirely
new censor board with producer Pahlaj
Nihalani as its chairperson. Mr. Nihalani,
known for the 1990s blockbusters Shola aur
Shabnam and Aankhen , produced Har
Ghar Modi-The Power House of India, a
fan-song for Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, last year.
The new board also features Dr. Chandra
Prakash Dwivedi, best known for his epic
TV serial Chanakya and the critically
acclaimed, national award winning
Partition film Pinjar , based on Amrita
Pritams novel of the same name.
Other board members include Gujarat
Central University Vice-Chancellor Syed
Abdul Bari, besides film and theatre
82
personalities who are either BJP members

or have had close association with the
party.
BJP national secretary Vani Tripathy Tikoo,
who has acted in films like Chalte Chalte
and Dushman , and Bengali actor George
Baker, who joined the BJP last year, were
appointed members of the board.
Mr. Baker contested from the Howrah
parliamentary constituency in last years
general elections but lost to Prasun Banerjee
of the Trinamool Congress.
Ashoke Pandit, Kashmiri activist and
filmmaker, known for films like And the
World Remained Silent and Sheen also
found a place on the revamped censor
board. Another new appointee, Ramesh
Patange, is a Dalit RSS activist and author
of Me, Manu anee Sangh (I, Manu, and
Sangh).
Tamil actor and former AIADMK MLA
S.Ve. Shekher and Telugu actor Jeevitha
were also appointed members of the board
for three years.
Ms Jeevitha is fighting a cheque bounce
case in which she was sentenced to two
years in prison and fined Rs. 25 lakh, which
she paid.
Rajni Kothari was the first to foresee caste

factor
Rajni Kothari, preeminent political theorist
and activist, who in the 1960s developed
the idea of the Congress system to explain
the partys umbrella character that
accommodated multiple interests within its
fold, is no more. He was in his mid-80s and
ailing for several years.
Numerous books and commentaries that
combined empirical research and
theoretical originality make Mr. Kothari
possibly the most influential thinker on the
development of the Indian political system.
Being an academic did not restrain him

from donning an activist cap, and Mr.
Kothari was an active participant in
politics, most remarkably through his
association with the Peoples Union for
Civil Liberties.
He had an enduring influence on the study
of Indian politics with his many books,
especially, his magnum opus, Politics in
India, and also Caste in Indian Politics,
and Rethinking Development: In Search of
Humane Alternatives.
Mr. Kothari founded the Centre for the
Study of Developing Society in 1963 in
Delhi, which grew as a premier institute,
where a galaxy of Indias social scientists
was based. He was also chairman of the
Indian Council of Social Science Research,
and in various capacities, mentored several
generations of Indian social scientists.
Haryanas decision to reduce retirement age
to 58 upheld
The retirement age of Haryana government
employees now stands reduced to 58 years
from 60 years as the Punjab and Haryana
High Court has upheld the decision of the
Manohar Lal Khattar government to the
effect.
The decision is likely to impact nearly 5,000
of the 3 lakh employees on an immediate
basis.
Government sources had earlier claimed
that while the reduction in retirement age
would result in an additional burden of Rs.
200 crore on the exchequer on immediate
basis it would prove beneficial in the long
run as it would lead to more job
opportunities at the entry level.
It was on November 25 that Mr. Khattar
had announced the reduction in retirement
age of employees.
83
1-crore award for villages attaining balanced

sex ratio
Union Minister for Women and Child
Development Maneka Gandhi announced
a Rs. 1-crore award for any innovative
village attaining a balanced sex ratio.
At the inaugural session of a national
thematic workshop on woman and child
development in Panipat, Ms. Gandhi urged
the State governments and the district
commissioners and other officials to work
together for the success of the Beti Bachao
Beti Padhao (Save daughter, educate
daughter) programme to be launched by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi .
Ms. Gandhi said the Prime Minister chose
Haryana to launch the campaign as it was
one of the States with a low female sex ratio.
One hundred districts with a low female
sex ratio were selected nationwide for the
campaign, and 12 of them, including
Panipat, were in Haryana.
Periyar Tiger Reserve wins NTCA award
The Periyar Tiger Reserve, spread over 925
sq.km. in Kerala, bagged the National Tiger
Conservation Authority (NTCA) biennial
award for encouraging local public
participation in managing the reserve.
There are 75 communities living around the
reserve, including tribal people who are
dependent
on
eco-development
programmes.
The community-based eco-tourism
activities helped visitors and there were
night scouting programmes with the help
of expert trackers as well. Tourism was
supplemented by pepper growing and
marketing which was a value addition.
Now, self-help groups were involved in
honey processing and other incomegenerating activities.
e-auction of 46 coal blocks to begin

The government has begun re-allocating
cancelled coal blocks. E-auction, in two
phases, of 46 coal mines would begin on
February 14. While 23 Schedule II mines
(those that are producing already) would
be auctioned between February 14 and
March 5, another 23 blocks, falling under
Schedule III (ready to produce), would be
put on offer between February 25 and
March 5.
Started with 42 mines in Schedule II and
32 mines in Schedule III. Subsequently, 27
mines were transferred from Schedule I (all
204 mines) to Schedule III, and this took
thereby taking the number to 101.
However, with three mines falling in the
no go areas, the effective number of mines
would be 98.
Cabinet panel plans strategy to legislate
ordinances
The Budget session of Parliament, as is
customary, will be held in two parts: the
recess will start on March 20 and
Parliament will reconvene on April 20.
The session will end on May 8. The Railway
budget will be presented on February 26
and the Economic Survey the next day.
The debate on the Motion of Thanks to the
Presidents Address has been fixed for
February 24 and 25.
New Chief
Justice for J&K High Court
Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar, judge of
the Madras High Court, has been elevated
as the Chief Justice of the Jammu and
Kashmir High Court.
Justice Vasanthakumar, who is from
Marthandam in Kanyakumari district on
Tamil Nadu, had been a lawyer for 25
84

years. He was made an Additional Judge
of the Madras High Court on December 10,
2005, and appointed permanent judge on
April 20, 2007.
He disposed of 92,000 petitions as a judge
of the Madras High Court and delivered
several landmark judgments.
Jhumpa Lahiri wins DSC Prize for 2015
Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri
won the $50,000 DSC Prize for Literature,
one of South Asias top literary awards for
her book, The Lowland .
The Prize celebrates writing on the South
Asian region from writers across the globe
and is given to the best novel or translations
into English of a work on or about the
region.
This is an enormous honour for The
Lowland and for me personally. I wish I
was there in person to receive the award,
Ms. Lahiri said through a phone
conversation from Rome. Publisher
Caroline Newbury accepted the award on
her behalf.
Irom Sharmila arrested again
A day after being released from jail, rights

activist Irom Chanu Sharmila was arrested
once again under the same charge of
attempt to commit suicide by continuing
her indefinite fast.
Imphal West Superintendent of Police
Jhaljit told PTI that Ms. Sharmila was
arrested under Section 309 of the Indian
Penal Code. She has been arrested for the
same crime, but it is a different case .
Imphal East district chief judicial
magistrate rejected charges of attempt to
suicide against the 42-year-old, who is on
an indefinite fast for 14 years demanding
the repeal of Armed Forces Special Powers
Act (AFSPA).She is in a government
hospital under police custody, where she

is force-fed through the nose.
A simple
Device to curb female foeticide
A simple set top box is helping to prevent
sex determination and female foeticide.
Taking its cue from Jhajjar, which had the
worst sex ratio among the districts of
Haryana before staging a remarkable
recovery in the past three years, the Jind
administration has made it mandatory for
all ultrasound labs to install active tracking
devices with their machines so as to make
available the details of the tests online to
the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
Though Jind is not among the 12 districts
identified for concerted action under the
Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign
launched by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi , the district administration has
introduced the scheme to track ultrasound
machines to curb their misuse for sex
determination tests and to improve the sex
ratio.
Deputy Commissioner Ajit Balaji Joshi,
who had been instrumental in the
introduction of the scheme in Jhajjar in
2011, said all the recordings of the
ultrasound tests would be sent online to the
CMO. This would help the administration
monitor how the equipment was being
used and what tests were being done.
Mr. Joshi said the plan would cover all the
ultrasound machines in Jind. A set top box
is put along with every ultrasound
machine, and the power supply to the
ultrasound machine is routed through it.
So, both would have to be switched on
together. The set top box contains a GPRSbased SIM card which sends a message to
the CMO and the Deputy Commissioner
the moment it is switched on. It records the
85
entire functioning of the ultrasound

machine and sends a video in encrypted
form to the CMO every day.
Crocodile project at Sunderbans gets a boost
with expert assistance
A crocodile project in Sunderbans, aimed
at increasing the number of salt water
crocodiles in the delta, has got a fresh start
with the help of renowned experts in
herpetology who introduced global best
practices in crocodile conservation.
The Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project started
in the mid 1970s, was aimed at increasing
the number of salt-water crocodiles, a
Schedule-I species under the Wildlife
Protection Act, 1972.
A few years later, the eggs to hatchling ratio
declined, and of the 100 eggs collected on
an average less than 40 would hatch,
posing questions over the fate of the project.
In a break with protocol, PM receives
Obama at airport
U.S. President Barack Obama being
received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
at the Palam Air Force Station in New
Delhi. Obama received 21 gun salute at
Rashtrapati Bhavan; Guard of Honour led
by woman officer Puja Thakur.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who arrived
in the Capital on a three-day visit on
Sunday, was accorded a grand welcome
with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
making a departure from protocol to
receive him and First Lady Michelle
Obama at the Palam Air Force base.
He inspected the tri-service Guard of
Honour, which for the first time was led
by a woman officer, Wing Commander
Pooja Thakur. The gesture reflected the
theme of this years Republic Day parade
Nari Shakti (women power). The U.S.
President will be the Chief Guest at the

parade on Monday morning.
After the ceremonial reception, Mr. Obama
visited Raj Ghat and paid a floral tribute at
the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi. Mr.
Obama has often spoken about how he has
been inspired by the Mahatma and has
borrowed from his ideals and teachings.
Accompanied by Union Power Minister
Piyush Goyal, who is the Minister-incompany for the visiting dignitary, Mr.
Obama observed a moment of silence at the
Mahatmas samadhi . He planted a Peepal
sapling and received a charkha (spinning
wheel) as a memento.
No changes to civil liability law, says
Sujatha Singh
Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and other
External Affairs Ministry officials have said
that no changes to the Civil Liability for
Nuclear Damages (CLND) Act, 2010, have
been made, and no assurances given to the
U.S. on its contentious Section 46 that opens
suppliers to tort liability, either.
But given the lack of clarity on just how
the government was able to convince U.S.
officials who have held out against the law
since 2010, many are sceptical about how
viable the breakthrough will be if there is
legal or political opposition to the deal in
India.
Former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
Chairman A. Gopalakrishnan was doubtful
that the deal would benefit Indian
consumers or taxpayers, given the cost of
setting up the insurance pool of $244
million. If so, the financial burden of this
will eventually be on the Indian tax-payers.
It is the foreign reactor manufacturer, who
escapes payment and the public who suffer
from the damaging consequences end up
also paying for all rectification, he said
86

demanding more clarity from the
government.
R K Laxman Passes Away

The messy business of the democracy that
was India was unforgettably captured in
the iconic creation, labelled simply The
Common Man , of R.K. Laxman, died .
Mr. Laxman, who was awarded the Padma
Vibhushan and the Magsaysay Award, was
a complex man, who defined his mtier
with an ingenious lightness of touch as
evinced in his autobiography, Tunnel of
Time.
His astonishing career was a paradox in the
Chestertonian sense often interviewed
in public, he fiercely guarded his private
life. There was an unmatched brilliance
and warmth in his wit. He was inimitable.
He could be many things to many people
at the same time, reminisced friend and
fellow cartoonist Mangesh Tendulkar.
Balding, clad in a tattered jacket and
donning an eternally bemused expression
through his spectacles, the Common Man
was the first sight of millions of newspaper
readers in Mr. Laxmans pocket cartoon,
You Said it, since 1951 in The Times of
India.
Be it Gattu, the tousled boy mascot of Asian
Paints, or the masterly Malgudi
illustrations,Mr. Laxmans dab hand
portrayed the tokenism of politicos and the
existential angst of the Indian commoner
with a devastating effectiveness.
Chandigarh launches Smart City app
In the first major step towards making

Chandigarh a Smart City, the city
administration launched its official mobile
app to create awareness of consumer
rights and responsibilities and provide all
types of citizen-centric and public utility
services and information to the residents.

Launching the scheme, Vijay Dev, Adviser
to the Administrator of Chandigarh, said
various departments would be directed to
route all information and updates through
the app and appoint a link officer for the
work.
The app would become an important
platform for redressing grievances.
Speaking at the launch of an app of the
Food and Supplies and Consumer Affairs
Department, Mr. Dev described it as a
single e-window to all information
related to the department and various
citizen-centric services.
The app is now available free at Google
Play store for Android phone users. Its iOS
and Windows Phone versions would be
released soon.
Important addresses, contacts, helpline
numbers and e-mail ids of the consumer
forum and various departments of the
Chandigarh Administration are available
on the app.
Two Harappan
sites being excavated
Excavations have begun at the two
Harappan sites of Binjor in Rajasthan, close
to the India-Pakistan border, and
Rakhigarhi in Haryana.
While the Archaeological Survey of Indias
Excavation Branch at Purana Quila, New
Delhi, is excavating Binjor, the Deccan
College Post-Graduate & Research
Institute, Pune, and the Haryana
Department of Archaeology is excavating
the Rakhigarhi site, 25 km from Jind. About
350 km separate Binjor from Rakhigarhi. As
the crow flies, Binjor is situated seven km
from the border, in Anupgarh tehsil of Sri
Ganganganar district.
There are about 2,000 Harappan sites in
87
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with 500

in India and 1,500 in Pakistan.
At its glory, the Harappan civilisation
flourished over two million square km,
from Sutkajendor on the Makran coast of
Balochistan to Alamgirpur in Uttar
Pradesh, and from Manda in Jammu to
Daimabad in Ahmednagar district of
Maharashtra.
Sanjay Manjul, Director, Institute of
Archaeology, New Delhi, who is director
of the excavation at Binjor, said the
excavation was being jointly done by the
ASIs Excavation Branch at Purana Quila
and the Institute of Archaeology.
Vasant Shinde, Vice-Chancellor, Deccan
College, is the director of the excavation at
Rakhigarhi. Professor Shinde said that with
the discovery of two more mounds last year
at Rakhigarhi, the site had staked claim to
be the largest Harappan site. One of the two
newly discovered mounds would be dug
this season.
Murthy and kin donate 200,000 for Gandhi
statue
The plans for erecting a statue of Mahatma
Gandhi in Parliament Square have received
a boost with a donation of 200,000 from
N.R. Narayana Murthy, co-founder of
Infosys, and his family.
The donation goes a long way in meeting
the target of 750,000 set by the Gandhi
Statue Memorial Trust, a charity that was
set up by the economist Lord Meghnad
Desai for the purpose of commissioning
and installing the statue.
Earlier this month, the Gandhi Statue
Memorial Trust announced it had raised
over 500,000 in donations and pledges.
Mr. Murthys donation will close the target
gap. The installation and unveiling of the
statue is likely to take place soon.
Right to shelter
The Congress will push for the right to

shelter for the poor, on the lines of the right
to information and employment legislation.
Jaishankars appointment comes in a twist
With the Centre appointing S. Jaishankar
the new Foreign Secretary, it is unclear if
the sudden move will upset other officers
in the External Affairs Ministry the way the
surprise appointment of Foreign Secretary
Shiv Shankar Menon did in 2006, with
several officers resigning in protest.
Dr. Jaishankars replacement of Sujatha
Singh is an interesting twist, given they
were both in the running for the Foreign
Secretarys post when Ms. Singh won the
post in 2013. Officials in the then Prime
Ministers Office said that while Mr.
Jaishankar was the then Prime Minister
Manmohan Singhs choice, he was
overruled at the time, primarily because of
Ms. Singhs seniority.
Debates show why Preambles original text
left out the two words
Even as the omission of the words secular
and socialist from the Preamble text in a
government advertisement has stoked a
controversy, the Constituent Assembly
debates clearly show why the words were
omitted in the original text.
The debates saw Dr. B.R. Ambedkar reason
that there was no need to include the term
secular as the entire Constitution
embodied the concept of secular state,
which meant non-discrimination on
grounds of religion and equal rights and
status to all citizens.
On the inclusion of the term socialist, he
said it is against the very grain of
democracy to decide in the Constitution
88

what kind of society the people of India
should live in.
However, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reintroduced the two words for political
reasons in the 42nd Constitution
Amendment of 1976. Constitutional expert
Subhash Kashyap said: The word
socialist was added to send a message
politically that she stood for the poor. The
word secular was obviously meant for the
minorities in the context of the birth control
programmes of the emergency period. It
was not as if the Constitution was not
secular or socialist before the words were
added. India has been secular before the
42nd Amendment and continues to be
secular after it. It was merely playing
politics, Mr. Kashyap said.
Remove ads on pre-natal sex selection: SC
In an interim order, a Supreme Court bench
of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant
ordered the three search engines Google,
Yahoo and Microsoft to forthwith
withdraw online advertisements, currently
being hosted or published, on pre-natal sex
determination facilities, clinics or centres
in violation of Section 22 of the PreConception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic
Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection)
or PC-PNDT Act, 1994.
Referring to an affidavit filed by the
Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology, Solicitor-General
Ranjit Kumar said the government would
be able to stop the presentation of any
kind of thing that relates to sex selection
and eventual abortion if the search
engines part with the URLs of such content.
Alternatively, he said the search engines
can also effectively or regularly block key
words and advertisement links as they
have the relevant technology and deepdomain knowledge
The hearing is based on a PIL filed by Dr.

Sabu Mathew George in 2008 highlighting
the use of Internet and popular search
engines to promote sex determination
technologies in violation of the 1994 Act.
Shekhar Sen is Sangeet Natak Akademi
chairman
Eminent singer and theatre director
Shekhar Sen has been appointed the new
chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi,
the countrys premier institution for
performing arts.
Mr. Sen was awarded the Padma Shri on
Republic Day.
According to an order issued by the
Culture Ministry , Mr. Sen has been
appointed for a five-year term with
immediate effect.
The Akademi has been without a head after
earlier chairperson Leela Samson, who was
appointed by the UPA government, quit on
September 30 last year.
Gorkhaland movement leader Subhash
Ghisingh dead
Subhash Ghisingh, the founder-leader of
the movement for a separate homeland for
the Gorkhas in northern Bengal, passed
away at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New
Delhi. He was 80 and is survived by two
sons and a daughter.
Mr. Ghisingh was born in a tea estate in
Darjeeling and later joined the Armys
Gorkha Rifles. When he first started
talking about a separate State, no one in the
Darjeeling Hills was with him, recalled
Abhijit Majumdar, a Central Committee
member of the CPI-ML in Siliguri. But he
was a genuine leader who slowly mobilised
people, selling them the idea of a separate
identity and self-rule.
Mr. Ghisinghs politics was based largely
89
on the alleged discrimination that

Darjeeling Hills suffered at the hands of a
government that ruled from Kolkata,
nearly 600 kilometres south. The
movement slowly drew in hundreds of
thousands of people belonging to various
ethnic groups, predominantly the Gorkhas,
residing in the hills. He became their
undisputed leader.
For almost 20 years from 1988 to 2007
Mr. Ghisingh headed the Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). However, in
2007, his political disciples led by Bimal
Gurung formed a separate outfit, the
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
Eventually, it became difficult for the
legendary Gorkha leader to operate from
the hills and he was forced to shift to
Siliguri in the plains of north Bengal.
Human rights group slams Indias record
A top global human rights group has
criticised the Indian government for its
treatment of minorities, lack of protection
for womens and childrens rights,
restrictions on free speech and insufficient
support extended for human rights via
New Delhis foreign policy engagements.
In its 25th annual World Report on human
rights, New York-headquartered Human
Rights Watch (HRW) noted that there was
a spike in incidents of violence against
religious minorities in 2013 in the run-up
to the national elections where 133 people
were killed and 2,269 injured in 823
incidents.
Even one year after the communal violence
in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts of
Uttar Pradesh where over 60 people,
mostly Muslims, were killed and tens of
thousands displaced, both the Central and
the State governments had not provided
proper relief or justice, the report said.
Citing numerous other incidents of

violence against minorities, including
recent cases of discrimination against Dalits
in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, the HRW
report focused attention on the plight of
those involved in manual scavenging,
the cleaning by hand of human waste.
In terms of womens rights, in early 2014,
the government introduced guidelines for
the medical treatment and examination of
women and children who report rape, but
failed to allocate resources necessary for
their implementation. At the time of
writing only two States had adopted the
guidelines.
Govt. effects
major reshuffle of Secretaries
The Narendra Modi government effected
a major reshuffle of Secretaries of Union
Ministries days after the tenure of Foreign
Secretary Sujatha Singh was curtailed.
Shankar Agarwal, secretary of the Urban
Development Ministry and Anita
Agnihotri, secretary Housing and Poverty
Alleviation (HUPA) Ministry were both
moved out, ahead of the launch of the
governments flagship schemesthe smart
city project and housing for all by 2020.
According to sources, the Prime Ministers
Office had held several rounds of meetings
with both these ministries and there was
dissatisfaction over the slow pace of
work. The Prime Ministers Office had
recently asked the UD Ministry to fast track
the smart city project, while the HUPA
ministry was asked to submit the blueprint
for how housing shortage, particularly for
the weaker sections will be met.
While Mr. Agarwal has been shifted as
Secretary, Ministry of Labour and
Employment in place of Gauri Kumar, Ms.
Agnihotri will take over as Secretary,
90

Department of Social Justice and
Empowerment in place of Sudhir
Bhargava.
Madhusudhan Prasad, Special Secretary in
the Department of Commerce, Ministry of
Commerce and Industry will take over as
Secretary, UD and Nandita Chatterjee,
Member Secretary, National Commission
for Women, Ministry of Women and Child
Development will take over as secretary
HUPA.
Gauri Kumar has been moved to (Coordination & Public Grievances), Cabinet
Secretariat in place of S.B. Agnihotri.
Lov Verma, Secretary Health and Family
Welfare Ministry has also been moved out
at a time, when the government is gearing
to roll out the Universal Health Assurance
Mission. He has been shifted as Secretary,
Department of Empowerment of Persons
with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment in place of Stuti
Narayan Kacker, on her superannuation.
Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Establishment
Officer and Special Secretary, Department
of Personnel and Training, Ministry of
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions,
will take over as the new Health and
Family Welfare Secretary.
Law Commission moots special commercial
courts
The Law Commission recommended that
the government to set up special
commercial courts for the speedy disposal
of high value commercial suits and
suggested substantial changes in the
Civil Procedure Code.
In its 253rd Report, the Law Commission
of India headed by chairperson Justice A.P.
Shah, recommended to Union Law
Minister V. Sadananda Gowda that
separate commercial courts, and
commercial divisions and appellate

commercial divisions in High Courts
would all ensure that cases are disposed of
expeditiously, fairly and at reasonable cost
to the litigant.
The Commission has also included a draft
Bill, the Commercial Division and
Commercial Appellate Division of High
Courts and Commercial Courts Bill, 2015
and suggestions for substantive procedural
changes in the form of amendments to the
Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
Dilip Kumar gets lifetime achievement
award
Veteran actor Dilip Kumar was conferred
Lifetime Achievement Award for his
contribution to Indian cinema.
Actor Anumpam Kher received the award
on his behalf at the Jaipur International
Film Festival (JIFF) here.
In her video message, Dilip Kumars wife
Saira Bano said, Dilip sahib will be very
happy and feel to be honoured by with this
award. Due to doctors advice, he could not
come to Gulabi Nagari [Jaipur] to receive
it.
Make Moral Science must in schools: plea
The Supreme Court issued notice to the
government and the Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) on a plea to
make Moral Science compulsory from
Class 1 to 12.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice H.L.
Dattu and Justice A.K. Siki sought
responses of the Human Resource
Development Ministry and the CBSE on a
PIL petition filed by advocate Santosh
Singh, contending that Moral Science
should be made compulsory to include
moral values and nurture national
character in the national interest.
91
Russia, China back Indias inclusion in

expanded APEC
Joint statement
Russia and China have endorsed Indias

efforts to formalise an iron-clad rejection
of international terrorism, amid a call by
the three countries to end the era of a
unipolar world and rid the globe of the
threat of regime change.
At the end of their day-long deliberations
in the Chinese capital, the foreign ministers
of the Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping
issued a comprehensive joint communiqu
that called for an ambitious reform of an
international system that was respectful of
the diversity of home-grown political
systems.
21-nation grouping
The communiqu recommended Indias

inclusion in an expanded Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC), a 21-nation
grouping of Pacific Rim countries.
The Ministers endorsed Indias impending
membership to the Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation (SCO) after elevating the
grouping, which is pillared by Russia,
China and most of the Central Asian States
as one of the key instruments in
promoting multilateral political, security,
economic and humanitarian interaction in
the region.
In SCO
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

(SCO), which India is joining soon, has been
holding major counter-terrorism exercises,
in anticipation of the withdrawal of the U.S.
forces from Afghanistan. Recognising the
threat to stability posed during
Afghanistans upcoming transitional
phase, the three Ministers called for
supporting the Afghan National Security
Forces (ANSF), in tune with the withdrawal
of the U.S.-led International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF).
Without specifying the Pivot to Asia

doctrine of the U.S., which involves
concentration of forces on Chinas
periphery, a joint statement by the RIC
grouping called for advancing talks in the
East Asia summit framework on rule-based
security architecture in the Asia-Pacific,
driven by the United Nations.
Home Secretary sacked
Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami was

given his marching orders for allegedly
trying to stall the arrest of Saradha scam
accused and former Minister Matang Sinh.
The final decision was taken after Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Home
Minister Rajnath Singh met and discussed
the issue.
Rural Development Secretary L.C. Goyal
was appointed in his place, the order from
the Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet said.
Despite high maternal mortality, India
records drop in fertility
India, which is unlikely to achieve the fifth
Millennium Development Goals (MDG-5)
of reducing maternal mortality to 109 per
1,00,000 live births by 2015, is however,
confident of meeting the target for lowering
the total fertility rate (TFR) by the end of
the 12th Plan.
Right to religion not above public morality:
SC
Confirming the sacking of a government
servant for bigamy, the Supreme Court
ruled that the fundamental right to religion
did not include practices which ran counter
to public order, health and morality.
The judgment by a Bench of Justices T.S.
Thakur and A.K. Goel was on a petition
filed by Khursheed Ahmad Khan against
92
the Uttar Pradesh governments decision

to remove him from service as Irrigation
Supervisor for contracting a second
marriage when his first marriage was still
in existence.
His ouster was based on Rule 29 (1) of the
Uttar Pradesh Government Servant
Conduct Rules, 1956.
Mr. Khan challenged the constitutionality
of the provision in the 1956 Rules, arguing
that it violated his right to freely practice
his religion.
But the Bench dismissed his contention.
Justice Goel, who wrote the verdict, quoted
the apex courts 2003 judgment in Javed
versus State of Haryana that a practice did
not acquire sanction of religion simply
because it was permitted.
What was protected under Article 25 was
the religious faith and not a practice which
may run counter to public order, health or
morality. Polygamy was not integral part
of religion and monogamy was a reform
within the power of the State under Article
25, Justice Goel wrote.
The court further noted that no material
was shown on record to prove that Mr.
Khan had divorced his first wife, and
moreover, his service record still showed
his first wifes name.
Sharp distinction must be drawn between
religious faith and belief and religious
practices. What the State protects is
religious faith and belief. If religious
practices run counter to public order,
morality or health or a policy of social
welfare upon which the State has
embarked, then the religious practices must
give way before the good of the people of
the State as a whole, the judgment
reproduced the 1952 judicial precedent in
the Narasu Appa Mali case.
Punjab
Colleges to be tobacco-free
All private and government universities of
Punjab will soon become tobacco-free.
Principal Secretary, Health and Family
Welfare, Vini Mahajan has written to ViceChancellors and the principals of the
affiliated colleges to implement the
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products
Act, 2003 (COTPA) on their campuses.
In the communication, Ms. Mahajan said
Punjab was the first State in India to ban
the sale of loose cigarettes (as single sticks)
to dissuade consumers and the Tobacco
Control Cell of the State had been
aggressively pursuing the agenda to bring
down tobacco consumption in Punjab and
banning of loose cigarettes was a step in
that direction.
Universities and colleges have been urged
to keep a check on the shops and kiosks
near their premises as well as small markets
within to enforce complete ban on sale of
tobacco products.
The official reminded that under Section 4
of COTPA, smoking in public places is
prohibited & under Section 6 of COTPA,
tobacco selling is not allowed within 100
yards of any educational institution. She
said this measure would go a long way in
reducing prevalence of tobacco in Punjab
as it would end up reducing the age of
initiation.
Cannot close doors to Telanganas plea on
Krishna water disputes says SC
The Supreme Court observed that it cannot
close its doors on newly-formed
Telanganas plea for a fresh look at the
inter-State sharing of Krishna river water,
even as Karnataka, one of the beneficiary
States, strongly objected to the re-opening
of the five-decade-old dispute.
93
Telangana has filed a fresh petition in the

Supreme Court, contending that its
interests were not represented before the
Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II. It
sought total re-consideration of the
Tribunals final award in December 2010
as it concerned only Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh and Maharashtra.
It said Telangana, which came into
existence only on June 2 this year, did not
get an opportunity to raise its independent
grievances.
In August this year, the Supreme Court had
prima facie recognised Telanganas status
as an affected State with a voice of its
own.
SC directed to complete Prosecution of
account holders by March 31
The Supreme Court directed the Centre to
complete prosecution of black money
holders abroad under the Income Tax Act
by March 31, 2015.
A Bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and
Justices Madan B. Lokur and A.K. Sikri
gave this direction to the Centre after senior
counsel Anil Divan, appearing for
petitioner Ram Jethmalani, said the
defaulters and evaders whose names had
been disclosed to the SIT would be off the
hook if the income tax proceedings were
not completed by then.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the
Income Tax Act had been amended to
extend the period of limitation for
launching prosecution.
He said if prosecution could not be
completed by the deadline, the law would
be suitably amended or appropriate orders
passed. He said some people had accepted
that they had accounts in foreign banks and
paid tax. Proceedings against others were
pending.
India a moderate-performing country: report

India has been named a moderateperforming country in combating climate
change with Australia being the worst,
according to a report released at climate
negotiations.
India was ranked 31. India climbs five
places and continues to profit from the very
low level of per capita emissions, but
overall CO2 emissions have risen
constantly over the past five years to about
40 per cent, said the Climate Change
Performance Index 2015 report by
Germanwatch and Climate Action
Network (CAN) Europe.
Australia was the worst performing
industrial country in terms of climate
change in 2014. The report by two NGOs
said the poor ranking was due in part to
policy changes made by the current
coalition government.
N. Srinivasan must keep off BCCI meetings:
SC
The Supreme Court questioned the
rationale behind N. Srinivasan stepping
aside as BCCI president but attending its
meetings as Tamil Nadu Cricket
Association president.
You even attend the meeting of the
working committee of the BCCI to delay
the BCCI elections.
We understand your passion for the game,
but dont be so passionate, Justice T.S.
Thakur told Mr. Srinivasans counsel Kapil
Sibal.
RS agree for 49% FDI in insurance
Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Select
Committee Chandan Mitra tabled the
report on the Insurance Laws
(Amendment) Bill, 2008, recommending a
hike in FDI in insurance sector from 26 to
49 per cent.
94

The report, carrying dissent notes from four
of the 15 members, incorporated Congress
partys demand for a composite cap on
such investments.
The dissenting parties include the
Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress,
Communist Party of India (Marxist) and
Janata Dal (United). These parties are
opposed to further opening of the
insurance sector to foreign investment.
The Union Cabinet that met late in the
evening approved the incorporation of
amendments suggested by a Parliamentary
select panel in the Insurance Laws
(Amendment) Bill, 2008.
Following the Cabinets approval, the Bill
is expected to come up for consideration
and passage in the Rajya Sabha next week.
Modi talked with Putin, discussed defence,
energy
Russian President Vladimir Putin held
talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
to further boost cooperation between the
two strategic partners in crucial sectors like
defence, energy and trade at a time when
Russian economy was facing Western
sanctions.
Mr. Putin, who arrived, is likely to push
for enhancing supply of military hardware
to India as well as expansion of bilateral
economic engagement in a range of areas.
It is the first annual summit meeting
between Mr. Putin and Mr. Modi. The two
leaders had met on the sidelines of the
BRICS summit in Brazil in July and during
the G-20 summit in Australia last month.
The bond between the people of Russia
& India is very strong. Our nations have
stood by each other through thick and
thin, the Prime Minister said in another
tweet.
In his talks with Mr. Modi, both in
restricted and delegation level formats, Mr.

Putin is likely to seek deeper economic
engagement with India with an aim to
minimise impact of sanctions against
Russia by the US and its Western allies over
the Ukraine issue.
RS finalised its Draft report on Insurance
Bill
The Rajya Sabha Select Committee finalised
its draft report on the Insurance Bill. The
report will be tabled in the House,
committee chairman Chandan Mitra told.
The Bill seeks to raise foreign direct
investment in insurance joint ventures from
26 to 49 per cent. The committee has given
time for notes of dissent, if any, to be
submitted.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)
and the Trinamool Congress are likely to
oppose the report. The other two parties
which may differ are the Samajwadi Party
and the Janata Dal (United).
The Select Committee has 15 members. It
is expected that with the three BJP
members, three Congress and one member
each from the AIADMK, Shiromani Akali
Dal and Biju Janata Dal on board, the report
will be adopted by majority vote.
States rejected Centres GST Bill
The States have rejected the draft Bill for
the Goods and Services Tax (GST), dealing
a major blow to the Centres resolve to roll
it out at the earliest.
The Centre-States stalemate has put a
question mark over whether the
government will be able to introduce the
GST Constitution Amendment Bill during
the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said
in the Lok Sabha last month that he would
introduce this Bill during the session. The
95
GST rollout has missed several deadlines

in the absence of a Centre-States consensus.
At a meeting of the Empowered Committee
of State Finance Ministers, the States
opposed the draft Bill and its proposal to
extend the GST to petroleum goods and
entry tax.
Consensus eludes the Centre and the
States on the three main issues of
compensation, petrol tax and entry tax,
Empowered Committee Chairman Abdul
Rahim Rather told presspersons.
He said the Empowered Committee would
not support the Centres Bill unless it
conceded the States three demands. The
GST will subsume all excise and service
taxes.
The States want compensation from the
Centre for the revenues they will lose over
five years from the shift to the GST regime.
They want a clause on the compensation
to be inserted into the Bill, Mr. Rather said.
The Centres proposed draft does not have
such a provision at present. We were
surprised to know that the Centre has only
agreed to one of our recommendations,
said Mr. Rather.
NGT stays MoEF clearance for phase 1 of

mini-hydel project
The National Green Tribunals (NGT) south
zone has stayed the clearance given by the
Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF) for phase 1 of a mini-hydel power
project.
The project was proposed by Sri Maruthi
Power Gen (India) Pvt. Ltd., in the reserve
forests of Kaginahare and Kenchanakumari
in Sakleshpur taluk. The State government
had forwarded the project proposal to the
MoEF, despite clear opposition from the
Forest Department in Karnataka.
Prashanth Y., a wildlife conservation

enthusiast of Bengaluru, had moved the
tribunal challenging the MoEFs clearance
for the controversial project.
The NGT, in its order dated November 20,
stated, The tribunal is satisfied that a
prima facie case is made out for granting
an order of interim stay of phase 1 clearance
issued by MoEF, and posted the next
hearing on the matter for January 21, 2015.
Justice M. Chockalingam and expert
member R. Nagendran gave this ruling.
The Karnataka government had sent the
proposal in February 2014 for diversion of
10.6897 ha of forest land in favour of the
private company to generate 18.9 MW of
power.
Dipak Sarmah, the then Principal Chief
Conservator of Forests, had recommended
rejection of the proposal. However, Forest
Minister B. Ramanath Rai and Chief
Minister Siddaramaiah are said to be in
favour of the project.
Better to Make in India primarily for India:
Raghuram Rajan
Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan
cautioned the government on Prime
Minister Narendra Modis Make in India
mantra, suggesting that India would have
to look for regional and domestic demand
for growth to make in India primarily
for India.
Dr. Rajan said that at this stage, an exportspush strategy for growth would be
ineffective; as the industrial world
stagnated, many emerging markets were
rethinking their export-led growth model,
he said. He was delivering the Bharat Ram
Memorial Lecture.
There is a danger when we discuss Make
in India of assuming it means a focus on
manufacturing, an attempt to follow the
96

export-led growth path that China
followed But the world as a whole is
unlikely to be able to accommodate another
export-led China, Dr. Rajan said.
Since the global economy was still weak,
he argued, it would be much less likely to
be able to absorb a substantial additional
amount of imports in the foreseeable
future.
Export-led growth will not be as easy for
India as it was for the Asian economies that
took that path before.
He also cautioned the Modi government
against picking a particular sector such as
manufacturing for encouragement, simply
because it had worked well for China.
Govt. introduced Bill in LS to amend
companies law
The government introduced a Bill in the
Lok Sabha to amend the companies law to
provide stringent punishment for illegal
money pooling activities, among other
things.
The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2014,
introduced by Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley, proposes as many as 14 changes in
various provisions of the new companies
law, which was passed by the previous
UPA regime.
The Bill proposes punishment for illegal
money pooling activities, amid rising
instances of people getting duped by such
fraudulent schemes.
Lok Sabha passes coal mines bill, 2014
The government assured the Lok Sabha
that Coal India Ltd., would not be
denationalised. We are in fact
strengthening it, said Union Minister of
State for Coal Piyush Goyal while steering
The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill,
2014, through the Lower House with a
voice vote.
Though some Opposition parties made out
a case for referring the Bill to the
Departmental Standing Committee, their
resistance to the draft legislation petered
out by the time the discussion was
wrapped up.
The Opposition strategy appeared to be to
force the Bill to a Select Committee in the
Rajya Sabha, where it has the strength to
do so; using the Lok Sabha merely to voice
their reservations, particularly on the end
use clause which has left a door open for
discretion.
With the Opposition questioning the
governments haste in pushing the Bill
without scrutiny, Mr. Goyal said such
alacrity was needed owing to the
Supreme Court order cancelling allocation
of 204 coal blocks.
Electricity amendment Bill focuses on
renewable Energy
The Electricity Amendment Bill 2014,
introduced in the Lok Sabha, lays strong
emphasis on promoting renewable energy
generation in the country while also aiming
at increasing accountability and
transparency in the functioning of
regulatory bodies.
For the first time, the Bill, introduced by
Power Minister Piyush Goyal, proposes to
make it mandatory for any company
establishing lignite and coal-based thermal
power plants, to generate renewable
energy.
While the amount of renewable energy to
be generated by such plants will be decided
later, the Bill proposes it to be not less than
10 percent of the total installed capacity of
a thermal plant.
The Planning Commission had in March
2011, constituted a working group on
97
power sector reforms. The group had

recommended several amendments to the
Electricity Act 2003.
Government pushes historic GST tax reform
The Government took the first step towards
switching to a Goods and Service Tax (GST)
regime by introducing The Constitution
(122nd Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha
amid demands for referring it to a
Departmental Standing Committee.
Though in favour of GST, Trinamool
Congress opposed the introduction as some
concerns of West Bengal were not
addressed and the AIADMK followed suit
citing irregularities and lacunae.
Introducing the Bill, Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley pointed out that the
issue had been discussed by a Standing
Committee in the past and was noncommittal on the Opposition demand.
Assuring MPs that he would not rush
through the Bill, he indicated that the
Government was prepared to wait till the
next session to get it passed.
Later, briefing mediapersons, he said in his
personal view the Bill does not need to
be referred to a Standing Committee as it
had already gone through the process. He
added that the Government was hoping to
roll it out in April 2016.
Flagging key issues of concern, Mr. Jaitley
said: Service tax is entirely the Centres
domain now. It is going to be shared with
States. Places like Maharashtra, from where
one-third of the national service tax comes,
will benefit.
State Cabinet approved draft CRDA Bill
The State Cabinet approved the draft
Capital Regional Development Authority
(CRDA) Bill with four changes. The Bill will
be tabled in the Assembly on December 19.
Besides giving nod to the changes in CRDA

Bill, the meeting chaired by Chief Minister
N. Chandrababu Naidu also discussed the
Debt Redemption Scheme and the strategy
to be adopted in the Assembly.
The Cabinet approved transfer of assets
and liabilities of Vijayawada-GunturTenali-Mangalagiri Urban Development
Authority to the CRDA. The Chief Minister
will be chairman of the 14-member CRDA
and the Municipal Administration Minister
vice chairman.
The CRDA will have Rs. 1000 crore as
development fund and Rs. 250 crore as
working capital. A detailed master plan for
the capital region will be ready in six
months.
It is learnt that the Cabinet also approved
increase in retirement age of teachers in
aided colleges from 58 years to 60 years and
from 60 years to 62 years in the universities.
Another important decision taken by the
Cabinet is to allow intra-State sale of paddy
and also allow export to other States if
farmers themselves pay Central Sales Tax.
The Cabinet which discussed various
issues during the four-hour meeting
approved proposals to fill 4,000 field
assistant posts under MNREGA and 6,000
posts in Panchayat Raj departments.
New maritime policy in a month says N. C.
Naidu
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu
announced that a new maritime policy to
develop the 974-km coastline in the State
would be unveiled in a month, saying that
the move would give a fillip to
industrialisation.
He was speaking on Andhra talks
business at the CEO and investors
conclave organised by the Fortune India,
in partnership with the State government
98
at Hotel Novotel. Over 100 CEOs, investors

and top officials attended the programme.
The session began with the launch of 2014
edition of Fortune India 500 mega issue by
Mr. Naidu, along with Managing Director
& CEO of ABP Pvt. Ltd D.D. Purkayastha
and Fortune India editor D.N. Mukerjea.
Mr. Naidu said the government was
developing the State into a mega trade and
logistic hub, benchmarked against the
business-friendly countries like Japan,
South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and
Dubai and outlined plans to transform AP
into a gateway to South East Asia.
He said efforts were on to develop ports at
Ramayapatnam,
Nakkapalli,
Kalingapatnam and other locations and
mega cities at Visakhapatnam and
Vijayawada. He also referred to fast-track
growth focus in five grids viz. power, gas,
water, road and fibreoptic.
In AP, we want internet connection of 1520 megabyte per second in every household
in three years, he said, adding that IT
development would be the backbone of
industrialisation.
India successfully test fires GSLV Mark-III

India moved forward in rocket technology
with the successful flight testing of its
heaviest next generation rocket and the
crew module.
Precisely at 9.30 a.m., the 630-tonne
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch VehicleMark III (GSLV Mark-III), standing 43.43metre tall, freed itself from the second
launch pad and with a reverberating deep
throated roar, rose into the sky.
With a thick orange flame at its tail, the
expendable rocket ascended towards the
heavens with one way ticket as its design
life span is just around five minutes.
The Rs.155-crore mission has twin

purposes. The main purpose is to test the
rockets atmospheric flight stability with
around four tonne luggage.
The second and incidental objective is to
study the re-entry characteristics of the
crew module called Crew Module
Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment its
aero braking and validation of its end-toend parachute system.
According to an Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) official, it will be of
the size of a small bedroom and can
accommodate two to three people.
Just over five minutes into the flight, the
rocket spat out the giant cup cake shaped
3.7-tonne crew module at an altitude of 126
km.
States to get relief on GST Bill
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will
seek the Cabinets nod for the 122nd
Constitutional Amendment Bill on the
Goods and Services Tax.
The GST will subsume into one levy all
indirect taxes imposed by the Centre and
the States. These include entry tax. The
Minister also proposes to extend the GST
to all petroleum products and real estate
transactions.
At its last meeting, the Empowered
Committee of State Finance Ministers had
by consensus rejected the Centres draft
Constitutional Amendment Bill and its
proposal to bring petroleum goods and
entry tax within the GST ambit.
The States have consistently demanded
that the GST regime exclude real estate
transactions and stamp duties. On these
issues, the Finance Ministrys new draft Bill
does not reflect the Empowered
Committees position.
99
The Ministry has, however, inserted into

its draft Bill a provision guaranteeing
compensation to States for losses of
revenues owing to the transition to the GST.
Ancient university near Nalanda was
founded during Kushan Period
Excavation near the ancient Nalanda
Institution, Art and Culture department
secretary Anand Kishore said, showed that
foundation of Tiladhak University was
laid during the Kushan period in first
century AD and not the Gupta period.
This indicates that the Buddhist
mahavihara found at the site may be older
than the mahavihara at Nalanda and
Vikramshila, director of State Archaeology
Atul Kumar Verma, who is leading the
excavation, said.
The site came into light when the former
Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, toured
the area in 2009. Mr. Kumar, seeing the
prospect of its historical importance, had
directed Art and Culture department to
begin excavation.
The site is located 33 km west of Nalanda
University and the Mahavihara in
Ekangalsarai block of Nalanda district, the
former Chief Ministers native place.
Chinese Traveller Hsuan-Tsang referred to
this mahavihara as Tilakakiye in the 7th
Century. Literature discovered has
confirmed its identity as Tiladhak or
Tiladhakay.
However, officials said that according to
Calcutta Universitys S. Sanyal, who
studied four monastery seals found during
excavation, the mahaviharas name is Sri
Prathamshipur mahaviharey bhikshu
sanghas.
India is third on black money list says report
As India continues its pursuit of suspected
black money stashed abroad, an

international think-tank has ranked the
country third globally with an estimated
USD 94.76 billion (nearly Rs 6 lakh crore)
illicit wealth outflows in 2012.
Russia is on the top with USD 122.86 billion,
followed by China at the second position
(USD 249.57 billion) in terms of the
quantum of black money moving out of a
country for 2012 the latest year for which
these estimates have been made.
Telangana decided to declare Dec.26 as
public holiday
Government of Telangana has issued an
order declaring December 26 as a public
holiday. Hitherto, it was an optional
holiday only.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao
referred to Boxing Day (December 26)
being declared as a public holiday when
he addressed the gathering after laying the
foundation stone for the Christian
Bhavan.
Govt. employees under Lokpal Act have to
disclose deposits in foreign banks
Amending the rules for voluntary
disclosure of assets and liabilities by
government employees under the Lokpal
and Lokayuktas Act, the Department of
Personnel and Training (DoPT) has effected
some changes in the form, making it
mandatory for them to disclose deposits in
foreign banks.
The deadline has been extended by four
months from December 31. Details of
deposits in the foreign bank (s) to be given
separately, states the DoPT order, adding
that government employees have to file
statements of movable property separately
for self, spouse and dependent child.
While investments above Rs.2 lakh have to
100

be reported individually, amounts below
that can be reported together. Apart from
cash and bank balance, government
servants would now be required to also
reveal details of other movable assets
including furniture, fixtures, antiques,
paintings and electronic equipment.
However, this only if the total current value
of any particular asset in any particular
category exceeds two months basic pay or
Rs. 1 lakh.
Another order amending the previous
Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Removal of
Difficulties) Order, 2014, gives six months
more to the government to make further
amendments to the rules formulated
thereunder.
While the government intends to make all
the declarations public, many government
officials have expressed concern that the
information on their assets could be
misused. The latest order does not have any
provision ensuring secrecy of the
disclosures made.
15 States ratified the National Judicial

Appointments Commission Bill
The National Judicial Appointments
Commission (NJAC) may soon become
active with Union Law Minister D.V.
Sadananda Gowda saying that 15 States
had ratified the Constitution (121st
Amendment) Bill, 2014, giving
Constitutional status to the Commission.
I have received information that 15 States
have ratified the Bill. Now the Rajya Sabha
has to receive authenticated letters from the
States, after which the Bill will be sent to
the President for assent, Mr. Gowda told.
The NJAC Bill, passed by Parliament in
August, had to be ratified by at least half
the State legislatures before it got the
Constitutional status.
The NJAC, once it came into existence, is
expected to usher in transparency in

judicial appointments in the highest courts
and end the highest judiciarys twodecade-old grip over appointments of
judges through the collegium system.
It further would restore an equal role for
the executive in higher judicial
appointments. Mr. Gowda said he could
not be able to give a time frame within
which the commission would start work,
but said there were judicial vacancies in the
Supreme Court and the High Courts.
Law Ministry statistics show there are 349
vacancies of judges in 24 High Courts and
three in the Supreme Court as on
November 10, 2014.
The number of pending cases as on
December 31, 2013, in the 24 High Courts
is 4,462,705. In the Supreme Court, 45,108
cases have been disposed of, while 65,970
are pending as on June 30, 2014.
Once the commission is in place, the
government has to within 30 days, intimate
the vacancies of judges to the Supreme
Court and the High Courts. Vacancies to
come up within the next six months should
also be intimated to the commission in
advance.
The NJAC has the Chief Justice of India
(CJI) as chairperson and two senior-most
judges of the Supreme Court as members,
apart from the Union Law Minister and two
eminent personalities, of which one of them
would be nominated from among the
Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes,
minorities, Other Backward Classes or
women.
Committee set up to make suggestions on

amendments to 2006 Act
These suggestions were placed during a
preliminary meeting. The committee is
headed by Chief Secretary Kaushik
101
Mukherjee.
Offering a ray of hope to professional
course seat aspirants in the State, the
committee set up by the government to
look into the possible amendments to the
Karnataka Professional Educational
Institutions (Regulation of Admission and
Determination of Fee) Act, 2006, has
suggested that more seats should go to the
governments share.
The committee has also reportedly drawn
attention to the fact that meritorious
students should not be affected by a
possible high fee structure as individual
colleges will have separate fee structures
depending on various parameters.
The probability of the Common Entrance
Test (CET) being restricted to admissions

to government institutions and there not
being a common fee structure for colleges
have been among the major concerns about
the Act in its present form.
Higher Education Minister R.V.
Deshpande toldthat the Act does not have
the provision to extend the CET for
admissions to private institutions. We
have to find a way out, he said.
Mr. Deshpande also said the government
had convened meetings with private
college representatives and those from
minority institutions on January 3 after
which the final modalities would be
decided.
102
International Issues
Luxembourg PM is the first gay EU leader to

marry
Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel
married his gay partner, becoming the first
European Union leader to enter into a
same-sex union in a symbol of growing
social change across the continent.
Mr. Bettel (42), a centre-right politician who
became Premier in 2013, tied the knot with
Gauthier Destenay, a Belgian architect, just
months after the conservative Roman
Catholic duchy legalised gay weddings.
The Prime Minister, wearing a navy blue
suit, and his partner, dressed in a dark grey
suit, held hands as they arrived for the low
key ceremony at the Luxembourg town
hall, where around 100 well-wishers
applauded them.
As well as being the first leader in the 28nation EU to wed a gay partner, Mr. Bettel
is only the second in the world after
Icelands Prime Minister Johanna
Sigurdardottir, who married her writer
partner in 2010. Iceland is not part of the

EU.
Kerry in South Korea to talk security, cyber
issues
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in
South Korea where he will be discussing
security issues amid fresh fears of North
Korean belligerence and delivering a
speech on cyber policy.
Mr. Kerry arrived in Seoul from Beijing and
will see top South Korean officials , less
than a week after South Koreas spy agency
said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
ordered his defense chief executed with an
anti-aircraft gun for complaining about the
young ruler, talking back to him and
sleeping during a meeting Kim presided
over.
That allegation, if true, adds to concerns
about the erratic nature of Kims rule,
particularly after Pyongyang claimed last
weekend it had successfully test-fired a
newly developed ballistic missile from a
103
submarine.
Those actions come despite a recent U.S.
diplomatic overture to North Korea to
discuss resuming de-nuclearization talks
that have been stalled for the past three
years. The U.S. quietly proposed a meeting
with North Korea in January, before the
U.S. and South Korea began annual
military exercises that North Korea regards
as a provocation. The two sides, however,
failed to agree on who could meet and
where.
In light of the new developments, Kerry
plans to reiterate Americas ironclad
commitment to the security of South Korea,
U.S. officials said.
On Saturday in Beijing, Mr. Kerry
expressed hope that the successful
conclusion of a nuclear deal with Iran will
send a positive message to North Korea to
restart negotiations on its own atomic
program. Kerry said he believed an Iran
agreement could have a positive
influence on North Korea, because it
would show that giving up nuclear
weapons improves domestic economies
and ends isolation.
International negotiators are rushing to
finalize a nuclear deal with Iran by the end
of June under which Irans program would
be curbed to prevent it from developing
atomic weapons in exchange for the lifting
of international sanctions that have
crippled its economy.
Nuclear talks with North Korea, which has
already developed atomic weapons despite
previous attempts to forestall it, broke
down three years ago as it has continued
atomic tests and other belligerent
behaviour, including ballistic missile
launches.
North Korea conducted its first nuclear test
in 2006 and is now believed to have at least
10 such weapons despite some of the

toughest international sanctions in
existence. It conducted its third nuclear test
in February 2013, and U.S. based experts
forecast that it could increase its nuclear
arsenal to between 20 and 100 weapons by
2020.
In addition to talks on issues related to
North Korea, Mr. Kerry in Seoul will be
laying the groundwork for a visit to
Washington in June of South Korean
President Park Geun-hye.
After his meetings on Monday, Mr. Kerry
is to deliver a speech on cyber security and
related issues. Both North Korea and China
pose major cyber security challenges. South
Korea has faced hacking attacks it has
blamed on North Korea, and the United
States accuses the North of being behind
the massive attack on Sony Pictures last
year that resulted in new U.S. sanctions.
Mr.Kerry will use the opportunity to lay
out U.S. efforts to combat the threats and
to stress the importance of a free and open
internet, according to U.S. officials.
Xi says U.S.China relations are stable
Chinas relations with the United States
remain stable, President Xi Jinping said, as
he sought to defuse tension over a
territorial dispute in the South China Sea
that has pitted Washington against Beijing.
I look forward to continuing to develop
this relationship with President Obama and
to bring China-U.S. relations to a new
height along a track of a new model of
major country relationship, Mr. Xi told
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing.
On Saturday, Mr. Kerry urged China to
take action to reduce tension in the South
China Sea. His call was rebuffed by Chinas
Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said
104

Beijings determination to protect its
interests in the area is as hard as a rock.
Mr. Kerrys trip is intended to prepare for
the annual U.S.-China Strategic and
Economic Dialogue in June in Washington
and Mr. Xis expected visit to Washington
in September, a trip that Mr. Xi said he
looked forward to.
But the model also outlines a respect for
each others sovereign and territorial
integrity as well as political system and
development path.
In my view the China-U.S. relationship
has remained stable, Mr. Xi told Mr.
Kerry.
German spy agency helped U.S. find Osama:
report
Germanys foreign intelligence agency
helped the CIA track down Osama bin
Laden in Pakistan where U.S. special forces
killed the al-Qaeda leader, according to a
German news report published on Sunday.
The BND spy service provided a tip-off that
Osama was hiding in Pakistan, with the
knowledge of Pakistani security services,
according to the Bild am Sonntag report,
which was published as the agency is
battling heavy criticism in a spy scandal.
The information came from a BND
informant within Pakistans Inter-Services
Intelligence agency and confirmed CIA
suspicions, said the newspaper report
which cited unnamed U.S. intelligence
sources.
The American source was quoted as saying
the German tip-off was of fundamental
importance in the hunt for Osama.
The German newspaper said that
ultimately U.S. services tracked down
Osamas exact location by following one of
his couriers, as Washington has said.
News portal Spiegel Online pointed out

that the newspaper report about the
German spy agencys apparent act of
heroism was published right in the
middle of the BND affair and asked is it
plausible?
The BND has been accused of helping the
U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) spy
not just on extremists and criminals but also
on political and business targets, including
the French government, European
Commission and Airbus Group.
French feminists say Rights of Man
declaration is sexist
A group of French feminists are saying no
to the rights of man, which they say is sexist
and an outdated example of the French
exception culturelle .
The Droits Humains collective is calling on
France to stop leaving women out of the
idea of universal liberties.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen ( Droits de lHomme in
French) was approved by the national
assembly in 1789 at the time of the French
revolution.
The collective wants the French
government to immediately abandon the
term Droits de lHomme and has
launched a petition calling for human
rights for everyone. It is past the time to
be debating or arguing about the relevance
of this change of terminology, which is selfevident, the petition says. This group will
disband once the institutions of the French
Republic have made tangible changes.
Otherwise, it will remain active for as long
as necessary. The group says countries
including Spain, Italy and Germany and
French-speaking parts of Canada and
Switzerland have already dropped use of
the term.
105
The expression Rights of Man makes

women, their issues and their battles
invisible and we become more and more
isolated, NoE Le Blanc, from the collective,
told Le Parisien. The preamble to the 1789
declaration mentions Rights of Man three
times, and the words men or man are
used in four of the declarations 17 articles.
Valentine Zuber, a French specialist in
history and human rights, said the term
was chosen specifically and without
ambiguity to be male and exclude women.
The 1791 French constitution made women
passive citizens excluded from voting, as
they were treated in Britain and throughout
the Europe at the time (Sweden had
allowed taxpaying female members of city
guilds to vote in 1718, but rescinded this in
its 1771 constitution). French women got
the vote in October 1945.
Critics of the petition argue that the term
Homme when capitalised denotes
mankind, as in everyone. The feminists
retort that the capital H is rarely used when
written and cannot be distinguished at all
when spoken.
The French declaration inspired the United
Nations universal declaration of human
rights in 1948.
Catherine Coutelle, a Socialist MP, said:
France is the only country that has
translated human rights as rights of
man for the United Nations universal
declaration. She said it was a regrettable
example of the French exception.
Abandoning the use of this expression
would be a step towards ending the
discriminatory logic within the French
language itself, Coutelle said. She also
regretted the continued and common use
of titles such as Madame le Maire and
Madame le President, where the masculine
noun always takes the masculine article
even if the holder of the position is

feminine. Pariss Socialist mayor, Anne
Hidalgo, the first woman to hold the
prestigious post, insists on being called the
grammatically incorrect Madame la Maire.
Situation in ancient city of Palmyra under
control: Syria
A Syrian official said that the situation is
fully under control in Palmyra despite
breaches by Islamic State (IS) militants who
pushed into the historic town a day earlier.
Syrian opposition activists also confirmed
that militants withdrew from a government
building and other areas they had seized
in the northern part of the town as clashes
continued.
Palmyra is home to one of the most famous
Unesco World Heritage sites in West Asia,
renowned for its Roman-era colonnades
and 2,000-year-old ruins. The militants
entered from the north and have not
reached the ruins southwest of Palmyra.
Governor Talal Barazi of Homs province
said Syrian troops recaptured two hills
from the militants late Saturday. He told
The Associated Press that army
reinforcements have been sent to shore up
existing troops.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said at least 295 people have
been killed since the Islamic State group
launched its assault around Sukhneh and
Palmyra five days ago. The dead include
at least 123 soldiers and allied militiamen,
115 Islamic State members and 57 civilians
killed in the clashes or later killed by
Islamic State militants, the Observatory
said.
The fall of Palmyra to Islamic State
militants would be an enormous blow for
embattled Syrian President Bashar AlAssad, not only because of its cultural
106

significance but also because it would open
the road to Homs and the capital,
Damascus.
Blair resigns as West Asia envoy
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
resigned as envoy of the Middle East
Quartet diplomatic group after eight years
in the job, his office said. Tony Blair has
tendered his resignation in a letter to [U.N.
Secretary General] Ban Ki-moon, said a
spokeswoman for Mr. Blair. Sources said
he would officially step down next month.
Mr. Blair was appointed to the unpaid
position in 2007 by the informal body
comprising the United Nations, United
States, European Union and Russia.
Bangladesh ratifies boundary pact protocol
The Bangladeshi Cabinet, chaired by Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina, ratified the
protocol on the Land Boundary Agreement
(LBA) with India.
The ratification was the last of the
approvals needed for the implementation
of the protocol signed during the visit of
the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh,
to Dhaka four years ago for exchange of
enclaves. The Indian Parliament ratified it
recently.
Exchange of instruments will now take
place during Prime Minister Narendra
Modis visit to Bangladesh, Cabinet
Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuyan said.
Under the protocol, 111 Indian enclaves
inside Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi ones
inside India were to be exchanged.
Bangladesh will also get 2,777 acres of land,
while India will get 2,267 acres.
Washington Post reporters trial begins
Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American, has
been held in a Tehran prison since last July
Washington Post correspondent Jason

Rezaian went on trial behind closed doors
in Iran on Tuesday on charges of spying,
in a case that has clouded a rapprochement
with the United States.
Mr. Rezaians wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who
is also a journalist, appeared in court
alongside her husband and a woman press
photographer, Irans official IRNA news
agency reported. The trial is being held in
Branch 15 of the Tehran revolutionary
court, which usually presides over political
cases or those related to national security.
The first session ended after about three
hours, according to MizanOnline, a news
agency linked to the judiciary.
Mr. Rezaian was presented with the
charges against him, including espionage,
the report said. Mr. Rezaian, an IranianAmerican, has been held since July last year
in a politically sensitive case that has
unfolded while Iran took part in nuclear
talks.
Work permit for
H-4 visa holders
With a new rule that provides work
authorisation to H-4 visa holders entering
the implementation phase this week, over
179,600 potential applicants are said to be
waiting in line, many from India, for what
they are calling their Independence Day.
On a conference call, experts from South
Asian Americans Leading Together
(SAALT), a leading diaspora organisation,
said many of them spouses of H-1B visa
holders had not worked anywhere for
up to 10 years, and it was with hope as well
as trepidation that they were seeking to
finally enter the workforce.
The change in the policy toward H-4 visa
holders came about through action
proposed by the Obama administration,
107
initially in 2013 and then finally made a

reality in May 2014, when the Department
of Homeland Security announced the
formal publication of the new rules.
This was followed by a 60-day public
comment period, which implied that the
extension of work authorisation to H-4
visas would only apply in the cases of H1B visa holders who had begun the process
of seeking lawful permanent residence
in the U.S., in other words a green-card
application.
The ruling had particular salience for visa
holders with Indian citizenship,
particularly those working in the IT sector,
as India receives the highest proportion of
H-1B visas from the U.S. every year.
In 2013, its citizens received 99,705 H-1B
visas, of a total of 153,223 issued globally,
slightly over 65 per cent.
The changes were initially announced last
year a few months after carried a series of
articles that highlighted the problems faced
by many H-4s.
Immigration specialists at SAALT noted
that as the new rules came into force on
May 26, many thousands of H-4 visa
holders were still excluded and could not
work, as their spouses were not on track to
receive a green card.
Dhaka plans to relocate Rohingya

Bangladesh plans to relocate thousands of
Rohingya who have spent years in refugee
camps near the Myanmar border to a
southern island, an official said on
Wednesday, as the region faces a humantrafficking crisis.
The government has started planning the
relocation to Hatiya island in the Bay of
Bengal in a move backed by Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina, said additional secretary
Amit Kumar Baul.
A Rohingya leader urged the government

to rethink, saying the plan would only
make life worse for the refugees many
of whom have been languishing in the
camps for years since they left Myanmar.
We want the [Bangladesh] government
and international organisations to resolve
our issue from here, said Mohammad
Islam, a community leader in one of the
camps.
Colombo still reluctant to demilitarise in
North and East
Notwithstanding the four-month-old
Sirisena governments repeated assertions
of attaching priority to ethnic reconciliation
in the country, the regime is reluctant to
carry out demilitarisation in the Northern
and the Eastern Provinces, according to a
study of Oakland Institute, a U.S.-based
policy think tank.
One of the reports, The Long Shadow of
War, states that the new governments
reluctance to demilitarise the North and the
East, and the continued stronghold over
power by the Sri Lankan armed forces
should be a major concern for international
community, which for now is busy
celebrating the new government and its
talk of reconciliation.
Criticising the government for operating
with the old mindset in security related
matters, the study quoted State Minister of
Defence, Ruwan Wijewardene who said,
during his visit to Jaffna in February, that
the government would not remove any
Army formations in the peninsula nor does
the government plan to scale down security
arrangements.
Referring to the new Presidents action of
following his predecessor, Mahinda
Rajapaksa, in entrusting the armed forces
with the responsibility of maintenance of
108

public order, popularly called police
powers, in all the districts of the country,
the report mentions that this does not
bode well for a return to civilian
administration. The document, which
recalls the history of Sinhalisation of
Tamil lands, says the process has
intensified since the end of the Eelam War
IV.
As for the number of persons who remain
missing since the end of the conflict, no
precise estimate is given even though
figures ranging from 70,000 to 1.47 lakh are
mentioned, quoting a 2012 U.N. report and
the Bishop of Mannar.
Cameron urges flexible and imaginative
EU reforms
British Prime Minister David Cameron
called for flexible and imaginative
reforms from the EU as he swung through
Paris on a tour of Europe to lobby for
changes to the 28-nation bloc.
Mr. Camerons two-day tour came as his
government published a law paving the
way for a vote on whether Britain should
leave the EU that must be held by the end
of 2017.
The Prime Minister has moved rapidly to
kickstart efforts to secure EU reforms
before the referendum which he promised
voters ahead of his surprise election win
earlier this month.
The status quo is not good enough and I
think there are changes that can be made
that can benefit not just Britain but the rest
of Europe too, Mr. Cameron said before a
dinner with French President Francois
Hollande in Paris. My priority is to reform
the European Union to make it more
competitive and to address the concerns
that British people have about our
membership.Mr. Hollande said that
France wanted Britain to remain in the

European Union, but that it will be up to
the British people to choose their future.
David Cameron will present his proposals
and we will discuss them and see how we
can move forward, he added.
The British Premier intends to speak to
every EU leader before a summit in
Brussels next month where the proposed
British reforms will be discussed in more
detail.
He met his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte
for lunch in The Hague on Thursday and
Polish Premier Ewa Kopacz and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has
expressed hope that a deal on reforms can
be reached. She has left the door open to
revising the Lisbon treaty to accommodate
British demands.
Bangladesh Liberation War award for

Vajpayee
Bangladesh is set to honour former Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his
outstanding support for the countrys
independence from Pakistan in 1971 when
he was a Lok Sabha member.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman familiar
with the process said Bangladesh will hand
over Vajpayees Friends of Bangladesh
Liberation War Award to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi during his visit to the
country from June 6.
Mr. Vajpayee, who is unwell, could not
visit Bangladesh to receive the honour.
From the very beginning of the Liberation
War (in 1971), he (Vajpayee) took a firm
stand in favour of Bangladeshs
independence... as the then president of
Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Lok Sabha
member, he mobilised campaign at home
and in international arena for the rights of
109
Bangladeshs people, the official said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also
approved a proposal to honour the families
of the members of Indian armed forces for
sacrificing their lives for the cause of
Bangladeshs independence.
Families of IDPs to receive resettlement

allowance
As many as 2,175 internally displaced
Tamil families in Jaffna and Trincomalee
districts are set to receive a financial
assistance of Rs. 38,000 per family for
resettlement with the Cabinet of the Sri
Lankan government sanctioning 16 crore
Lankan rupees.
Two hundred and four families in Sampur,
Trincomalee district of the Eastern
Province, and 1,971 families in Jaffna of the
Northern Province will get the assistance
initially.
Of the amount of assistance, Rs. 25,000 is
set apart for resettlement allowance and the
remaining Rs. 13,000 for purposes such as
clearing land and purchase of tools. The
payment will be made on verification of
claims by district-level officials, says an
official in the Ministry of Resettlement,
Reconstruction and Hindu Religious
Affairs.
Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan,
when asked for a reaction said he would
not like to comment now.
Israel brands boycott movement a strategic

threat
Israel and key international supporters
have sharply ratcheted up their campaign
against the Palestinian-led Boycott
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
movement, with senior Israeli officials
declaring it a strategic threat.
The moves came as the U.K.s National
Union of Students (NUS) voted to formally

ally itself with the aims of BDS.
Following the vote, Hebrew media
reported that Israeli MPs were due to hold
a special session in the Knesset to discuss
the issue.
The non-violent grassroots movement,
founded by journalist Ali Abunimah and
activist Omar Barghouti, is modelled on
South African anti-apartheid campaigns
and calls for an end to the occupation,
equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel,
and a resolution for Palestinian refugees of
1948.
Israeli critics point to the call for a right to
return and the opposition of some leaders
of the movement to a two-state solution
which they describe as a mistake as
evidence that BDS is antisemitic.
After years in which Israeli officials and
commentators have loftily dismissed the
impact of BDS which seeks to persuade
businesses, artists, governments and
academic institutions to boycott Israel over
its long occupation of the Palestinian
territories Israels new rightwing
government has in recent days singled out
the movement for criticism. The issue
appears to have been given added impetus
since Palestinian efforts to have Israel
suspended from the scandal-ridden world
football organisation Fifa failed.
Israeli officials told that the focus on BDS
was not an acknowledgement of its success
but rather the reaffirmation of a principal
of moral outrage both over the recent
move by the NUS and by efforts to have
Israel suspended from Fifa.
That, however, has led to accusations from
critics that Israel is deliberately conflating
the BDS movement with separate
Palestinian efforts to hold Israel
accountable for the occupation.
110

China blamed for massive U.S. data breach
China-based hackers are suspected once
again of breaking into U.S. government
computer networks, and the entire federal
workforce could be at risk this time.
The Department of Homeland Security said
in a statement that data from the Office of
Personnel Management the human
resources department for the federal
government and the Interior Department
had been compromised.
The hackers were believed to be based in
China, said Sen. Susan Collins. Ms. Collins,
a member of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said the breach was yet
another indication of a foreign power
probing successfully and focusing on what
appears to be data that would identify
people with security clearances.
But in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry
dismissed the allegations.
A spokesman for the ministry, Hong Lei
said that Beijing hopes the U.S. would be
less suspicious... but show more trust and
participate more in cooperation.
Thousands clash with police against G7

summit in Germany
Thousands of demonstrators protesting
against the policies of the worlds major
industrialised countries clashed with police
in this Bavarian town as the G7 leaders
prepared to convene in the nearby German
alpine resort Elmau for their annual
summit.
A peaceful march through the town by anticapitalism activists, opponents of
globalisation, environmentalists and other
groups turned violent after some of the
protesters threw bottles and a fire
extinguisher at police officials when they
were stopped at a barricade blocking access
to the road leading to the Elmau Castle

Hotel, the summit venue.
Police responded using teargas, p e p p e r
spray and batons against the
demonstrators. Several people were injured
on both sides in the clashes last evening,
police said.
Stop G7 Elmau, an alliance of various
groups that organised the demonstration,
said that a number of protesters suffered
injuries in the clashes and some of them
needed hospital treatment.
It held the police responsible for the
confrontation and vowed to continue the
protest marches until the G7 leaders leave
the area.
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP), which has been under
negotiation between the EU and the United
States for over a year and the plans for
fracking in Europe are among the targets
of the anti-G7 demonstrators.
They are also demanding the richest
nations to take concrete measures to
combat climate change, to promote fair
trade and food security, to reduce poverty
worldwide and to rescue migrants from
Africa and the Middle East taking a
perilous journey across the Mediterranean
to reach Europe.
Security measures for the two-day summit,
which opens this afternoon, have already
been tightened to prevent a repeat of the
violent clashes occurred during the last G8
summit hosted by Germany at the Baltic
Sea resort of Heiligendamm in 2007 and at
the opening of the new headquarters of the
European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt
in March.
Over 19,000 police personnel have been
deployed to ensure the security of the G7
leaders and a 16 kilometre-long wire fence
has been erected around the the summit
111
venue on the foothills of the Bavarian Alps

to keep the protesters at bay.
The G8 returned to its original format after
Russia was excluded from the group
following its annexation of Ukraines
Crimean peninsula in March, last year.
Sri Lankan Cabinet clears new electoral
system
After weeks of discussion with political
parties across the spectrum, the Sri Lankan
Cabinet has finalised the broad contours of
the proposed 20th Constitutional
Amendment on electoral reforms, leaving
many smaller parties surprised and
disappointed.
According to the decision taken on Monday
night, there will be no change in the size of
Parliament. It will remain at 225.
This was the major change from what was
proposed earlier. Rajitha Senaratne,
Cabinet spokesperson and Sri Lanka
Freedom Party (SLFP)s senior leader, told
that while our party is for increasing the
number of MPs from 225 to 255, the UNP
is against it. Eventually, that partys
viewpoint has prevailed.
However, unlike in the present system of
proportional representation (PR), the
proposed scheme marks a combination of
the First Past The Post (FPTP) and PR. Of
the total number of 225 seats, it had been
decided to earmark 125 seats for FPTP and
100 seats for PR. Again, 75 seats out of 100
would be filled through members
representing electoral districts while the
remaining 25 seats would be set apart for
the national list.
Even in the present system, there exists the
national list for 29 members apart from 196
members, who are elected on the basis of
the performance of parties in respective
electoral districts.
Mano Ganesan, chief of the newly-formed

Tamil Progressive Alliance, and Palany
Thigambaram, Minister for Plantation
Infrastructure Development and whose
National Union of Workers (NUW) is a
constituent of the TPA, term the formula
decided at the Cabinet meeting not
acceptable.
Mr. Thigambaram says the move will make
smaller parties permanent dependents of
the countrys principal parties. Mr.
Ganesan says the new formula completely
differed from what had been discussed till
now.
The Cabinets move will affect not merely
Indian Tamils, living in five districts, but
also other minorities such as Muslims and
smaller parties including the Janatha
Vimukthi Perumana (JVP).
Muthu Sivalingam, president of the Ceylon
Workers Congress, wants the government
to ensure that ethnic mix be made the
governing principle at the time of allocating
seats to different districts.
President Maithripala Sirisena has said any
move to prevent the 20th Amendment from
becoming a reality would be considered
an act against people.
Nepal parties reach long-awaited deal
Nepals rival political parties have struck
a historic agreement to end years of
deadlock on a new constitution that will
divide the country into eight provinces,
spurred by a devastating earthquake.
The deal reached late Monday comes
weeks after an earthquake that killed
thousands and piled pressure on politicians
to end a stalemate that has paralysed the
country.
Nepals lawmakers began work on a new
national constitution in 2008 following a
decade-long Maoist insurgency that left an
112
estimated 16,000 people dead and brought

down the monarchy.
But the political parties were unable to
reach agreement and the resulting
uncertainty left Nepal in a state of political
limbo.
Information Minister Minendra Rijal said
the April 25 disaster, which killed more
than 8,700 people and destroyed nearly half
a million houses, had motivated rival
parties to work together.
There is a will to get this done, said Mr.
Rijal, calling the agreement a major
breakthrough.
The opposition Maoist party had pressed
for greater devolution of powers, and the
agreement to divide Nepal into eight
provinces paves the way for a new federal
structure.
However, it leaves the crucial issue of the
provincial borders unresolved an
omission which critics said would create
future problems.
The Maoists had been pushing for new
provinces to be created along lines that
could favour historically marginalised
communities, but other parties said this
would be divisive and a threat to national
unity.
Under the deal, Nepal will continue with
its current system of national governance
which includes an executive Prime
Minister and ceremonial President.
The agreement includes a commitment to
hold the countrys first local elections since
1997.
Many say the absence of village
representatives has hampered the
distribution of aid following the quake.
But victims of the disaster were
unimpressed by the political breakthrough.
Id rather have rehabilitation and relief
than new provinces, said Eakindra

Gautam, a 57-year-old villager who fled to
Kathmandu after her home was destroyed.
The number of provinces makes no
difference to my devastated life or my
destroyed village, Ms. Gautam told AFP
as she sheltered under a tent. Lawmakers
said a draft of the final constitution, which
must be approved by a two-thirds
parliamentary majority, would be ready in
July.
Modi invited for
Nepal donor meet
Nepal has decided to invite Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to an international donor
conference which will be held here later this
month to raise funds for reconstruction of
the country devastated by quakes.
Nepal is hosting an international
conference of donors to gather support and
assistance for rehabilitation and
reconstruction works in the aftermath of
the earthquakes that killed nearly 9,000
people.
Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat flew
to India for a three-day official visit during
which he will meet Prime Minister Modi
and deliver Nepal Premier Sushil Koiralas
invitation to attend International Donors
Conference to be held on June 25.
McDonalds, Twitter declare support for
same-sex marriage
Corporate giants McDonalds, Twitter and
the big four banks are among 154 of the
nations biggest household brands to
declare their support for same-sex
marriage.
The companies, also including Telstra and
Airbnb, will feature in full-page ads in
Weekend Australian magazine calling for
marriage equality. They have also signed
113
a joint letter calling on federal parliament

to act.
Advocacy group Australian Marriage
Equality (AME), which organised the ad,
said the outpouring of support showed
how important marriage equality was for
workplace equity, jobs in the wedding
sector and Australias international
reputation.
The message is clear: the country is ready
for change, director Rodney Croome said.
The ad was paid for by contributions from
featured firms.
Acting CEO of Australian law firm Slater
and Gordon, Hayden Stephens, said
legalised discrimination in one area
allowed discrimination to flourish in other
areas. An open letter of support posted on
the Australian Marriage Equality website
features 183 signatories from across the
corporate world.
Equality in the workplace works;
discrimination does not, it states. We
support the right for all our employees to
have equal opportunities in life. We
therefore support marriage equality. In
May, business leaders, including the CEO
of Australias national airline, Qantas,
voiced their support for marriage equality
at a panel in central Sydney. The event,
organised by AME, was titled Does
marriage equality matter to corporate
Australia?
The CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce, said the
companys slogan, Spirit of Australia,
reflected a commitment to represent the
Australian community in his 28,000-strong
staff. That included members with
backgrounds from more than 250 different
countries and a huge gay community.
Colombo to launch scheme for widows

With reconciliation being high on its
agenda, the Sri Lankan government has

decided to launch an empowerment
scheme for widows in the country and
extend the implementation of a selfemployment programme for former
members of militant groups.
Of about 6.95 lakh widows in Sri Lanka,
approximately 6.67 lakh belong to the age
group of 40 years and above.
Even though exact details are not
immediately available with regard to those
who became widows in the wake of the 26year-long armed conflict (1983-2009), a
considerable number of the widows is said
to be belonging to this category.
According to the 2012 Census, women are
heading 23 per cent of 5.2 million
households in the country. Their share in
the overall population of about 20 million
is around 51 per cent.
China Releases
Details of Silk Road Plans
China has provided details about its
proposed Silk Road initiatives, which
would impact 4.4 billion people and, within
a decade, could generate trade above 2.5
trillion dollars.
A vision document jointly prepared by a
composite team from the Ministries of
Commerce, Foreign Affairs and the
National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) a top organisation
that steers the Chinese economy has
with precision revealed the geographic
parameters of Chinas One belt One Road
initiative.
The belt and road have two components
the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) that
would be established along the Eurasian
land corridor from the Pacific coast to the
Baltic Sea, and the 21st century Maritime
Silk Road (MSR).
114

The belt and road run through the
continents of Asia, Europe and Africa,
connecting the vibrant East Asia economic
circle at one end and developed European
economic circle at the other, says the
government report.
Specifically, the SREB focuses on bringing
together China, Central Asia, Russia and
Europe (the Baltic); linking China with the
Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea
through Central Asia and West Asia; and
connecting China with Southeast Asia,
South Asia and the Indian Ocean.
Finland Opposition Party

Wins Parliamentary Election
Finlands opposition Centre Party has won
the General Election 2015 by defeating the
left-right coalition National Coalition party
of incumbent Prime Minister Alexander
Stubb. With this win, Centre Partys leader
Juha Sipila, an IT millionaire and
newcomer to countrys politics, is set to
become Finlands next prime minister. In
this election, Juha Sipilas Centre Party has
won 42 seats in the 200 seats of Parliament
and Finns Party (formerly known as True
Finns) was runner-up by winning 38 seats
in parliament. While the ruling Coalition
Party has won 37 seats and the Social
Democratic Party got 34 seats
The Centre Party leader Juha Sipla, who
entered politics four years ago, said the
main problem in conservative Prime
Minister Alexander Stubbs coalition had
been a lack of trust among the ruling
parties. He warned that Finland, in the
midst of a three-year recession, was in a
difficult situation.
Saudi Arabia along with GCC Launches
Military Campaign Against Houthi
Saudi Arabia and a coalition of regional
allies have launched a military operation
in Yemen against the Houthi rebels, who

deposed the US-backed Yemeni president
last month.
The United Arab Emirates is participating
with 30 jets, Bahrain with eight, Morocco
and Jordan both with six. Sudan reportedly
offered three war planes to assist the
operation, Al Arabiya reported.
Kuwaits defence ministry announced it
was sending three squadrons of its F18
Super Hornet aircrafts to Saudis King
Abdulaziz airbase in Dhahran to take part
in the Yemen offensive.
Pakistan, which has longstanding ties to
Saudi Arabia, was examining a request
from Riyadh to join the coalition.
The security situation in Yemen
deteriorated after the Shia Houthis rebels
had seized power by dissolving Yemens
government and parliament in January
2015. Since then rebels had taken control
of key government buildings in capital
Sanaa including Presidential Palace. They
also had taken control and seized city of
Taiz, third largest city of Yemen.
Pakistan and Russia to Hold Joint Military

Exercise
Pakistan and Russia have agreed to hold
first-ever joint military exercises as part of
their enhanced defence cooperation, in a
sign of increasing bonhomie between the
Cold War-era adversaries.
The agreement was reached during a
meeting in Moscow between Pakistan
defence minister Khawaja Asif and his
Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu,
The ministers also agreed that conflicts
should be resolved through diplomatic
means and that use of force must be
discouraged and abandoned. They also
reached a consensus that a multi-polar
world would ensure peace and balance in
115
international relations.
Pakistan and Russia last year signed a
military cooperation agreement to deepen
their defence ties and vowed to translate
their relationship in tangible terms
during the first-ever visit of a Russian
defence minister in 45 years.
Russian defence minister Shoigus visit last
November to Pakistan came at a very
critical juncture as US-led NATO forces
drawdown from Afghanistan. Russia lifted
embargoes on providing defence supplies
to Pakistan and currently the two sides are
working on different options to increase the
ties in the defence field.
Philippine and U. S.
Begins Military Exercise
Philippine and U.S. soldiers began their
biggest combined military exercise in 15
years on Monday, in a demonstration of
Washingtons commitment to its long-time
ally as it rebalances to Asia in the face of
Chinas expansion in the South China Sea.
The annual Balikatan (shoulder-toshoulder) war games are part of a new U.S.
military initiative known as Pacific
Pathways, involving a series of drills across
the Asia-Pacific as America deploys more
troops, ships and aircraft in the region..
The exercise comes a few days after the
Philippines said it was seeking more
substantive support from the United
States on how to counter Chinas rapid
expansion in the South China Sea.
Chinas rapid reclamation around seven
reefs in the Spratly archipelago of the South
China Sea has alarmed claimants, including
the Philippines and Vietnam, and drawn
growing criticism from U.S. government
officials and the military.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said
Washington is concerned China is using its
sheer size and muscle to push around

smaller nations in the disputed sea,
drawing a swift rebuke from Beijing.
More than 11,000 American and Filipino
troops are taking part in the 10-day drill
on the islands of Luzon, Palawan and
Panay. The war games will see U.S. fighters
rehearse bombing runs and troops
involved in live fire drills.
India Joins Group of
War Against Terrorism
India, as well as the five permanent
members of the Security Council are among
the 30 nations who have joined hands for a
group formed at the UN against terrorism.
The Group of Friends against terrorism
was launched at the initiative of Moroccoby
the United Nation.
In addition to China, France, Russia, UK
and the US, the group has representation
from the five continents and is composed
of African countries (Morocco, Ethiopia,
Egypt, Chad, Kenya, Senegal and South
Africa), Western Europe (Spain, Germany,
Norway and Turkey), from Eastern Europe
(Czech Republic and Bulgaria), Asia (India,
Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
and United Arab Emirates), Latin America
(Argentina, Brazil and Colombia) and
Oceania (New Zealand and Australia).
The group would meet once a year at the
ministerial level on the margins of the
General Assembly and every two months
at the level of permanent representatives,
the report said.
The group aims to advance initiatives in
the framework of the UN, organize events,
round tables and seminars on various
aspects of the problem of terrorism and
initiate interaction with civil society,
academia and think tanks, he was quoted
as saying in the report.
116

Key Facts about Group of Friends Against
Terrorism
Group of Friends Against Terrorism is an
United Nations initiative launched to
combat terrorism. Created at the initiative
of Morocco, the group consists of thirty
countries, including the five permanent
members of the UN Security Council.
Group of Friends Against Terrorism will
aim, among others, to create synergies
between all initiative implemented within
the UN, promoting international
cooperation in combating terrorism, share
and exchange good practices in the fight
against this scourge that threatens
international peace and security. India is
one of the members of the group.
acceded to the courts governing Rome

statute 90 days ago.
The decision not to press ahead
immediately with cases has been seen by
observers as a way of avoiding an
immediate conflict with the US Congress,
which has the authority to freeze US aid to
the Palestinian Authority should it pursue
its own cases.
Joining the court is part of a broader effort
by the Palestinians to put international
pressure on Israel, and comes at a time
when the chances of resuming negotiations
on Palestinian statehood are seen as slim
following the Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahus recent election
victory and tough campaign rhetoric.
About International Criminal Court
Palestinian Becomes 123 Member of

International Criminal Court
The Palestinian Authority completed its
journey to formal membership of
international criminal court following a
low-key ceremony at the Hague
headquarters of the global institution of last
resort. The move could open the way for
Israelis to be prosecuted for war crimes despite Israel not being a member - and it
also allows the prosecution of Palestinian
militants, including those from Hamas,
who now fall under the courts jurisdiction.
International justice activists hailed the
occasion as an opportunity to bring
accountability after years of conflict
between the Palestinians and Israel, but
Palestinians backed away from earlier
threats to introduce a raft of complaints on
formally becoming the courts 123rd
member.
Instead they will wait for the outcome of a
preliminary investigation launched by the
courts chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda,
initiated when the Palestinian Authority
The International Criminal Court (ICC),

governed by the Rome Statute, is the first
permanent, treaty based, international
criminal court established to help end
impunity for the perpetrators of the most
serious crimes of concern to the
international community.
The ICC is an independent international
organisation, and is not part of the United
Nations system. Its seat is at The Hague in
the Netherlands. Although the Courts
expenses are funded primarily by States
Parties, it also receives voluntary
contributions from governments,
international organisations, individuals,
corporations and other entities.
The international community has long
aspired to the creation of a permanent
international court, and, in the 20th
century, it reached consensus on definitions
of genocide, crimes against humanity and
war crimes. The Nuremberg and Tokyo
trials addressed war crimes, crimes against
peace, and crimes against humanity
117
committed during the Second World War.

In the 1990s after the end of the Cold War,
tribunals like the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and for
Rwanda were the result of consensus that
impunity is unacceptable. However,
because they were established to try crimes
committed only within a specific timeframe and during a specific conflict, there
was general agreement that an
independent, permanent criminal court
was needed.
On 17 July 1998, the international
community reached an historic milestone
when 120 States adopted the Rome Statute,
the legal basis for establishing the
permanent International Criminal Court.
Amnesty International Reports on Death
Sentences in 2014
World governments issued 500 more death
sentences in 2014 than 2013, according to
Amnesty International. Amnesty
International recorded 607 executions
around the world in 2014, a reduction of
almost 22 percent compared to the previous
year. As usual, this global figure
excluded numbers for China; Amnesty
believes that China executes more people
than the rest of the world combined, but
says there is not enough reliable data to
provide figures.
However, the number of death sentences
climbed from 1,925 in 2013 to 2,466 last
year, an increase Amnesty attributed to
states seeking to tackle crime, terrorism and
internal stability.
Nigeria and Egypt were the main climbers
in terms of doling out death sentences.
Nigeria, fighting a Boko Haram
insurgency, issued 659 compared to 141 in
2013. Egypt, fighting an insurgency in Sinai
and still chasing supporters of the nowoutlawed Muslim Brotherhood that briefly
held power, issued 509 death sentences, 400

more than in the previous year.
After China, Amnesty said that the most
prolific executioners were Iran (249 known
cases, at least 454 more not
acknowledged by authorities), Saudi
Arabia (at least 90), Iraq (at least 61) and
the USA (35).
Execution methods employed around the
world included beheading, hanging, lethal
injection and shooting. Saudi Arabia and
Iran - two countries highlighted by
Amnesty as having used the death penalty
as a tool to suppress political dissent both carried out public executions.
The report also noted executions for
adultery, blasphemy or sorcery, which
should not be considered crimes at all.
The report lauded progress in sub-Saharan
Africa, where 46 executions were recorded
in three countries - as opposed to 64 in five
countries in 2013. Although Equatorial
Guinea, Somalia and Sudan were known
to have conducted executions, Amnesty
noted how Madagascar had set legislation
in motion that would abolish the death
penalty, if signed into law by the president.
In Europe, Belarus was the sole country still
using the death penalty - which is rejected
as a criminal punishment by the EU.
According to Amnesty, at least three
people were put to death in Belarus
during 2014, ending a 24-month hiatus.
Israel Develops Anti-Ballistic MissileDavids Sling

In an ongoing effort to boost its missile
defenses, Israel has recently been testing
its Davids Sling anti-ballistic missile
system. The latest test coincided with
positive developments in Iran nuclear talk
currently just meters from the finishing
line.
118

A number of recent Davids Sling missile
tests have been a great success, the Homa
Directorate at the Defense Ministry and the
American Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
announced.
Also known as the Magic Wand, the
short-range ballistic missile defense
system, designed to intercept medium
range missiles from nearby Gaza, Syria,
and Lebanon, has been jointly developed
the between the Pentagon contractor and
by Israels Rafael Advanced Defense
Systems.
Once fully operational it will be deployed
as part of a multi-layered missile defense
initiative that already includes the Arrow
1, 2, and 3 systems and the Iron Dome. The
system, capable of intercepting incoming
projectiles from over 300 kilometers (180
miles) away will also be used to detect, and
shoot down drones.
But unlike other components of Israels
missile defense, Davids Sling can be
deployed both in a mobile and stationary
positions.
The announcement of the latest tests,
coincided with the visit of John Boehner,
speaker of the US House of
Representatives, to Israel. It also coincides
with the timing of tense international
negotiations on Irans nuclear issue, as the
talks are extended for another day.
Israel which sees Irans peaceful nuclear
program as covert means for Tehran to
obtain nuclear weapons, have persistently
urged the international community and P5
+1 not to strike a deal with Tehran.
UNCTAD Report
on e-Commerce Biz
Small European countries top the ranking
of 130 economies according to their
readiness for business-to-consumer (B2C)
e-commerce, a new UNCTAD study
shows. According to a new UNCTAD B2C

E-commerce Index included in the study,
the highest e-commerce readiness is found
in Luxembourg, Norway and Finland.
Among developing and emerging
economies, the front-runners are all in East
Asia, namely the Republic of Korea, Hong
Kong (China) and Singapore. Meanwhile,
in terms of actual levels of online shopping,
countries with large populations such as
Brazil, China and the Russian Federation
are performing better than predicted,
suggesting that large markets facilitate ecommerce.
Global e-commerce is expanding and
evolving
Global B2C e-commerce is valued at about
$1.2 trillion. While considerably smaller
than business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce, valued at more than $15 trillion,
this segment is growing faster, especially
in Asia and Africa. This area also offers
high potential for growth of e-commerce
in developing countries.
Developing and transition economies are
expected to account for almost 40 per cent
of global B2C e commerce by 2018, while
the share of developed countries is set to
fall from more than 70 per cent to about 60
per cent, according to market estimates.
China has emerged as the largest global
market for B2C e-commerce, measured
both by online buyers and by revenue.
Between 2013 and 2018, the share of the
Asia and Oceania region in global B2C ecommerce is expected to surge from 28 per
cent to 37 per cent, while that of the Middle
East and Africa is set to grow slightly from
2.2 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
The extent to which people buy online still
varies greatly. The share of individuals
who have made an online purchase was for
119
example only 2 per cent in Mexico and

Thailand, and more than 60 per cent in
some developed countries. Unlike social
networking, where activity rates are
relatively high among developing
countries, the share of Internet users who
buy online is generally lower there than in
developed countries (see figure). This may
reflect limited purchasing power and other
mitigating factors such as a lack of trust,
limited shopping options and poor
delivery services.
The report highlights that developing
countries as a group are assuming a more
prominent role as both buyers and sellers
of goods and services online. Meanwhile,
increased reliance on e-commerce
generates significant gains for consumers
and productivity gains for enterprises
selling over the Internet.
Greater opportunities for developing
countries to engage in e-commerce
The UNCTAD report notes that the scope
for developing countries to participate in
and benefit from e commerce is expanding.
First, connectivity has improved, with
widespread uptake of mobile telephones,
social media and rising levels of Internet
use. Second, new e-commerce applications,
platforms and payment solutions are
making it easier to engage in e-commerce.
Third, local e companies with e-commerce
services tailored to local demands are
rapidly appearing in developing countries,
including in least developed countries.
For example, in Bangladesh and Cambodia,
new e-commerce sites are targeting the
domestic market, enabling consumers to
browse and order products online. In subSaharan Africa, various solutions have
been adapted to facilitate commerce over
feature phones, and many gateways have
emerged that can facilitate payment for ecommerce via mobile phones.
At the same time, asymmetric access to
major market places and e-commerce
platforms may accentuate existing
imbalances in e-commerce trade.
Merchants in many developing countries
do not enjoy equal access to these market
places. Data from the Universal Postal
Union on cross-border postal traffic of
small packets, parcels and packages also
show that while developed countries, and
Asia and Oceania, run significant trade
surpluses, Latin America and transition
economies import much more than they
export.
Unlocking the e-commerce potential
requires national and international policy
responses
In order to unlock the potential of ecommerce, the UNCTAD report calls for
policies that can help to harness ecommerce for sustainable development.
Key policy areas include the development
of information and communications
technology infrastructure, logistics and
trade facilitation, the legal and regulatory
environment (UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/
2015/4), e-payments, and platform and
skills development in combination with an
enabling international environment.
International dialogue and cooperation are
also crucial to promote the smooth
exchange of e commerce while at the same
time spreading benefits of e-commerce
more widely. Special attention may need
to be given to international trade rules,
taxation and capacity-building.
Democracy jailed for 13 years: Nasheeds
party
Former Maldives President Mohamed
120
Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in

prison on a terrorism charge after what
rights groups said was a flawed trial,
sparking international concern.
Mr. Nasheed called on his supporters to
take to the streets to protest against the
sentence after a trial his party said was
blatantly politicised.
I appeal to all of you today to stay
courageous and strong, to confront the
dictatorial power of this regime, his office
quoted him as saying.
Mr. Nasheed, the Indian Ocean
archipelagos first democratically elected
leader, had been arrested on February 22.
He was convicted under the countrys AntiTerrorism Act for ordering the arrest of a
chief judge, Abdullah Mohamed, when he
was President in January 2012.
The Anti-Terrorism Act, inter alia,
classifies an act of terrorism to include
kidnapping, holding as hostage or
apprehending someone against their will
or attempts to kidnap, hold hostage or
apprehend someone without their will, for
the extra judicial enforced disappearance
of the sitting Chief Judge of Criminal
Court, sources told PTI, quoting the court
judgement.
The 47-year-old was then taken to
Dhoonidhoo prison on an island near the
capital Male.
Mr. Nasheeds lawyers resigned before the
end of his brief trial, saying it was biased
and aimed at destroying his political career.
The conviction came amid growing
opposition to the government of President
Abdulla Yameen and will effectively
prevent Mr. Nasheed from running for
President at the 2018 elections.
Mr. Nasheeds Maldivian Democratic Party
(MDP) said the verdict dealt a blow to the
young democracy seven years after it

embraced multi-party elections following
three decades of rule by former strongman
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
Democracy jailed for 13 years on March
13, 2015, said MDP spokeswoman Shauna
Aminath. Nothing good will come out of
this.
Its a sad, sad, sad day for the Maldives,
she added. The MDP said its lawyers
would appeal Nasheeds conviction in the
high court.
Modi calls for implementation of 13th
Amendment in full
India stands for a united Sri Lanka, but
wants an early and full implementation
of the 13th Amendment that provides for
devolution in the Tamil majority Northern
and Eastern provinces, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said .
Mr. Modi, who was speaking at the historic
Presidential Secretariat after talks with Sri
Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, also
referred to going beyond the 13th
Amendment that would contribute to the
process of building a future that
accommodates the aspirations of all
sections of society, including the Sri Lankan
Tamil community.
The Prime Ministers comments came a day
ahead of his visit to Jaffna and
Talaimannar, the first ever by an Indian
Prime Minister.
In an interview to The Hindu this week,
Chief Minister of the Northern Province
C.V. Wigneswaran had called upon India
to remember its role as guarantor of
Tamil rights, saying the 13th Amendment
was inadequate and seeking something
beyond it.
121
Japan, France sign pact

France and Japan agreed on Friday to work
together on researching military
equipment, as Tokyo looks to broaden its
defence ties and bolster its international
profile.
In the latest in a spate of meetings,
involving defence and foreign ministers,
the fellow G7 members signalled a closer
working relationship.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius,
Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian,
Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani
and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida
pledged to fight terrorism, to help bring
stability to Ukraine, and to seek political
solutions to Syria and Iraq.
Allow us to visit India: panel on religious
freedom
The chair of a high-profile Congressional
commission on religious freedom has
asked the Indian government to reconsider
its view to withhold permission for the
commission members to visit the country
to assess the state of religious tolerance.
Katrina Lantos-Swett, Chairperson of the
U.S. Congress-established Commission on
Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said, I
would also say that we would really
welcome the opportunity to travel to India
and weve been saddened that until now
India has not been yet ready to welcome a
USCIRF delegation to come for a visit.
Under her leadership and Congressional
mandate, the USCIRF continues to produce
an annual report on the state of religious
freedom worldwide, which in years past
had designated India as a Tier II or
watch-list country.
Dr. Lantos-Swetts comments are
significant in the context of two recent
occasions on which U.S. President Barack

Obama has remarked upon the dangers of
religious intolerance for India, a view that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared
to cognise in February, when he
condemned religious-based violent acts in
the country.
On those remarks by Mr. Obama, Dr.
Lantos-Swett appeared to differ from State
Department officials who suggested that
the President did not specifically intend to
critique Indias religious tolerance and that
it was a general observation.
The Commissioner said that she did not
believe that the recent meetings between
Mr. Obama and Mr. Modi were any
indication that U.S. concerns as a country
regarding religious freedom issues in India
had gone away, rather that the White
House aspired to being able to speak out
about concerns that exist with respect to the
robust protection of religious freedom in
India, even as the bilateral rapprochement
deepens simultaneously.
Iceland withdraws
its bid to join the EU
The North Atlantic island of Iceland has
withdrawn its bid to join the European
Union, with the government saying that its
interests are best served outside the 28nation EU.
EU spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said that
the bloc would fully respect such a
decision and underlined that Iceland
remained an important partner.
Iceland started its membership
negotiations in 2010 looking to better
anchor itself to Europe two years after its
economy imploded amid a banking
collapse.
The biggest challenges to those talks were
fishing rights and agriculture. The new
government froze the EU accession
122

application when it came to power in 2013.
Icelands foreign ministry had announced
that the application was withdrawn.
Rushdie to join journalism faculty of NY

university
Controversial India-born author Salman
Rushdie will join the journalism faculty at
the New York University later this year to
teach courses and advise graduate
students.
Mr. Rushdie will join the New York
University (NYU) journalism faculty as a
Distinguished Writer in Residence at the
Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute of the
Faculty of Arts and Science in September,
2015.
A Fellow of the British Royal Society of
Literature and the American Academy of
Arts and Letters, Mr. Rushdie won the 1981
Booker Prize for Midnights Children.
Mr. Rushdie had spent nearly a decade in
hiding after Irans Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa
against him in 1989 following the
publication of his book The Satanic
Verses, which was considered offensive to
Islam.
Time to replace 13th Amendment with a

more dynamic system
It is time the 13th Amendment was
replaced with a more dynamic system of
devolution of powers, according to Sri
Lankas Northern Province Chief Minister
C.V. Wigneswaran.
Speaking ahead of Prime Minister
Narendra Modis visit to Sri Lanka, the
former Supreme Court judge said: [The]
13th Amendment can never be the final
solution. Be that as it may, we welcome him
[Mr. Modi]. We know we have a friend in
him. We appreciate his concerns for us, in
wanting
to
come
to
the North.
Mr. Modi will be in Sri Lanka on a twoday visit. He will travel to the islands wartorn Northern Province where Mr.
Wigneswaran won a historic provincial
election in September 2013.
Ever since the Chief Minister and the Tamil
National Alliance (TNA) the main party
representing the Northern Tamils have
been pointing to hurdles in governance due
to the limited powers.
As a proponent and an advocate of
devolution, Mr. Modi would appreciate
the situation in Sri Lanka, the Chief
Minister said. Especially the inadequacies
of the 13th Amendment would no doubt
be understood by him.His visit and
understanding would be very vital in the
ultimate finalisation of our constitutional
problems.
From the time Sri Lankas ethnic conflict
ended in May 2009, New Delhi has been
pushing Colombo for the full
implementation of the 13th Amendment,
following up on former President Mahinda
Rajapaksas earlier assurance.
Pointing to the Indian model of power
sharing between the Centre and the States,
Mr. Wigneswaran said it was the quantum
of devolution prevalent under the Indian
Constitution that made possible Mr. Modis
excellent leadership and people-centred
approach that transformed Gujarat.
In comparison, under Sri Lankas unitary
Constitution, there was no chance of our
performing the way Hon. Modi
performed.
On the changes after former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa was unseated, he said
President Maithripala Sirisena was
refreshingly different but certain sections
of the new government were acting
123
irresponsibly following the age-old

political tactics of the past which had led
to the worsening of the ethnic issue,
adding that the regime change was not an
end in itself.
As an advocate of devolution, Mr. Modi
would appreciate the situation in Sri Lanka,
says Northern Province CM Wigneswaran.
Pakistan lifts death penalty moratorium for
all cases
Pakistan has lifted its moratorium on the
death penalty in all capital cases, officials
said , after restarting executions for
terrorism offences in the wake of a school
massacre by the Taliban.
The Interior Ministry has directed
provincial governments to proceed with
hangings for prisoners who had exhausted
all avenues of appeal and clemency, a
senior interior ministry official told .
Pakistan has hanged 24 convicts since
resuming executions in December after
Taliban militants gunned down more than
150 people, most of them children, at a
school in the restive northwest.
The partial lifting of the moratorium only
applied to those convicted of terrorism
offences, but officials said it has now been
extended.
Rights campaign group Amnesty
International estimates that Pakistan has
more than 8,000 prisoners on death row,
most of whom have exhausted the appeals
process.
Amnesty International estimates that
Pakistan has more than 8,000 prisoners on
death row.
ICC hands over
Bashir case to U.N.
Sudan has failed to arrest its long-time
leader Omar al-Bashir for genocide and
war crimes, the International Criminal

Court (ICC) ruled, referring the matter back
to the U.N. Security Council.
Mr. Bashir (71) is wanted by The Haguebased ICC, the worlds only permanent
court, for his role in the western Sudanese
region of Darfur where insurgents rose up
in 2003 in an ongoing conflict that has left
more than 300,000 people dead.
He faces five counts of crimes against
humanity including murder and torture,
three of genocide and two of war crimes
including attacking a civilian population.
The ICC in 2009 and 2010 issued two
warrants against Bashir, but he continues
to travel across the African continent
despite a legal obligation by ICC member
states to arrest him.
More U.S. sanctions on Venezuela
U.S. President Barack Obama ordered a
fresh wave of sanctions against senior
Venezuelan officials involved on
opposition crackdown, including the
prosecution of Caracass Mayor.
Mr. Obama ordered the freezing of U.S.
properties and bank accounts of seven
officials, including the director general of
the intelligence service and the director of
the national police.
Most of those targeted for U.S. sanctions
on Monday were accused of being involved
with a 2014 crackdown on opposition
protests that left more than 40 dead.
Sri Lanka may review Tata housing project
Sri Lanka has said that a $400 million
housing project by the Tata group is being
reviewed, weeks after the countrys new
government said it was looking for a fresh
start into the first-of-its-kind township
plan.
Tata launched the housing project last year
124

in central Colombo that involved the
displacement of 65,000 people.
The scale of displacement and the
compensation offered have been a sore
point with former President Mahinda
Rajapaksas opponents, it said. Company
spokesperson refused to comment on the
matter.
India is not a country of rapists: German
envoy to discriminating German professor
Lets be clear: India is not a country of
rapists. This was what German envoy in
India Michael Steiner wrote, in his strongly
worded letter, to a German professor who
denied internship to an Indian male
student citing Indias rape problem.
Mr. Steiner also commended the high
quality of public debate on rape in India,
while advising the professor to learn more
about the diverse, dynamic and fascinating
country.
In India, the Nirbhaya case has triggered
a lively, honest, sustained and very healthy
public debate... of a quality that wouldnt
be possible in many other countries, he
wrote in his letter.
Dr. Annette Beck-Sickinger, professor of
biochemistry at Leipzig University, had
refused to accept an Indian student for an
internship because of Indias rape
problem.
Unfortunately, I dont accept any Indian
male students for internships. We hear a
lot about the rape problem in India which
I cannot support. I have many female
students in my group, so I think this
attitude is something I cannot support, Dr.
Beck-Sickinger wrote to the student.
Mr. Steiner asked the professor to correct
her simplistic image particularly
unsuitable for a professor and teacher.
Womens rights activist Kavita Krishnan
termed the professors response

shameless racial profiling.
However, it was Ambassador Steiners
unequivocal condemnation of the actions
of the professor, that warmed the heart of
several Indians, who thanked and
congratulated him for the bold step.
Israel will not cede land to Palestinians:
Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says
Israel will not cede territory due to the
current climate in the Middle East,
appearing to rule out the establishment of
a Palestinian state.
Mr. Netanyahu said any evacuated
territory would fall into the hands of
Islamic extremism and terror organizations
supported by Iran. Therefore, there will be
no concessions and no withdrawals. It is
simply irrelevant.
The statement was released by his Likud
party .
Mr. Netanyahu is seeking to appeal to
hard-liners ahead of elections.
Party spokesman Elie Bennett says Mr.
Netanyahus 2009 speech calling for a
Palestinian state alongside Israel is not
currently relevant.
The international community has long
pushed for the creation of a Palestinian
state on lands captured by Israel in the 1967
Mideast war.
Mr. Netanyahus spokesman declined
comment.
Pollution control: China sends mixed signals
China has sent mixed signals about its
approach to tackle pollution by
announcing zero-tolerance to violators of
a stringent environmental law, but the
same time seemingly curbing public debate
on the subject by pulling out from
125
mainstream video sharing sites a hardhitting documentary on emissions that had

gone viral on the internet.
We are going to punish, with an iron hand,
any violators who destroy ecology or
environment, with no exceptions, said
Chinas President, Xi Jinping, while
reviewing the work report of the National
Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) the official body that exercises
administrative and planning control over
the Chinese economy.
Mr. Xis remarks had followed the release
of the documentary Under The Dome ,
which had drawn over a million hits on the
internet on account of its unvarnished focus
on the enormity of the crisis.
The film, produced by Chai Jing, a former
employee of CCTV, the state-run
broadcaster, began to disappear from
mainstream domestic video-sharing sites.
It was now no longer available on popular
mainland video sites, including Youku and
iQiyi.
The move was surprising as the film had
been praised earlier this week by Chinas
newly-appointed
Environmental
Protection Minister, Chen Jining. Peoples
Daily , the official newspaper of the
Chinese government had also posted the
documentary on its website.
Chinas decision to lower its growth rate
target for 2015 to seven per cent; the
framing of the new environment law; and
plans to enhance the role of nuclear and
renewables in its energy mix, is expected
to sharply reduce emissions in the worlds
second largest economy.
A major element of Chinas clean energy
strategy is the reduction in the use of coal
a double-edged weapon that has been
both at the heart of the countrys breakneck
growth story and the cause for heavy smog
choking many Chinese cities.

For areas affected by severe smog, regions
where conserving energy is difficult, and
industries with overcapacity, we will
strictly control the number of energyintensive projects and implement policies
for reducing coal use, and for replacing coal
with alternative energy sources, the report
said.
Planners say that the countrys energy use
has entered medium-low growth, in tune
with the more sustainable model of
development that China plans to follow.
Nur Bekri, the head of National Energy
Administration, predicts a steep decline in
the expansion of Chinas primary energy
consumption.
While annual energy intake increased by
7.9 per cent since 2000, it is expected to
grow by only 3.4 per cent over the next six
years.
That figure conforms with Chinas target
of capping annual primary energy
consumption at 4.8 billion tonnes of
standard coal equivalent by 2020.
Mr. Bekri said that energy growth will
further dip to 2.3 per cent during 2015-2030.
China hopes to reduce the use of coal
which fuels 66 per cent of the current
energy consumption by expanding the
share of non-fossil energy to 15 per cent by
2020, and 20 per cent by 2030.
Modi to unveil plaque of Jaffna cultural

centre
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil
the plaque of a cultural centre to be built
with Indian assistance in Jaffna on March
14.
Mr. Modi, in the first state visit to Sri Lanka
by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly three
decades, will travel to the war-torn
Northern Province of the island nation.
126

The cultural centre will serve as a space
connecting people through the arts and
culture, official sources said.
The event will be held at the adjoining
Jaffna Public Library, a historic structure
torched by a mob during riots in 1981.
The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry said in a
statement that Mr. Modi would hand over
houses constructed as part of the 50,000
built under an Indian housing scheme to
beneficiaries in Jaffna and flag off train
services from Talaimannar to Colombo
restored with Indian assistance.
The Prime Minister will visit the ancient
town of Anuradhapura and the Sri Maha
Bodhi tree, which Buddhists consider
sacred with the legend that it grew out of a
branch transported from Bodh Gaya in
India centuries ago.
On his first day in Sri Lanka, the Prime
Minister will address a special sitting of the
Sri Lankan Parliament in Colombo and pay
homage at the memorial to Indian Peace
Keeping Force personnel, the Foreign
Ministry statement said.
Motion in Commons on Gandhijis statue
An early-day motion (EDM) to mark the
unveiling of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi
at Parliament Square here was tabled in the
House of Commons by Britains longestserving Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz.
The EDMs allow MPs in Britain to draw
attention to an event or cause and register
their support by signing individual
motions. There is generally no debate held
on such a motion.
Mr. Vaz welcomed Finance Minister Arun
Jaitleys visit to the U.K. to be present at
the high-profile ceremony to be attended
by British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr. Jaitley is expected to arrive in London
late on March 12.
Outrage as
IS destroys ancient site
Activists, officials and historians have
condemned Islamic State (IS) for the
destruction of the ancient Assyrian
archaeological site of Nimrud in Iraq,
saying the groups actions were part of a
systematic campaign reminiscent of the
Mongol invasion of Arabia that aims to
erase
millennia
of
culture
and civilisation.
Iraqs tourism and antiquities ministry said
that IS had bulldozed the ancient city of
Nimrud, south of Mosul, which was
conquered by the militants in a lightning
a
d
v
a
n
c
e
last summer.
The destruction of the site, which became
the capital of the neoAssyrian empire,
was confirmed by a local tribal source
speaking to Reuters.
Maldives internal
issues might have led to cancellation of
Modi trip
The omission of the Maldives from Prime
Minister Narendra Modis Indian Ocean
foray next week is significant because the
Foreign Minister of the island nation,
Dunya Maumoon, announced the trip two
weeks ago.
Mr. Maumoon met External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi, and
reportedly discussed the upcoming visit.
Sources said the government did not want
to be seen involved in domestic issues
of the Maldives, though the Ministry gave
no explanation for the cancellation of the
Male trip.
Sources said the government was taken by
surprise over the treatment of former
President Mohammad Nasheed, who was
127
arrested and charged with treason and

roughed up by the police on the way to
court.
The External Affairs Ministry issued a
strong statement expressing concern
over his arrest and manhandling.
Despite the concern, the Prime Ministers
visit was expected to continue, and local
newspapers in Male have been reporting
on various investment initiatives and
agreements planned by President
Yameens government during the visit.
The Maldives government has not reacted
to the cancellation of Mr. Modis visit.
However the opposition groups led by Mr.
Nasheeds MDP said that Mr. Modis
decision was caused by the strain in Indias
relations with the Maldives, because of
what it called the authoritarian actions
and confrontational nature of President
Yameen.
Colombo will work in cooperation with
U.N.
Sri Lanka will take pointers from the U.N.
report on Sri Lankas rights record for its
domestic mechanism, the countrys Foreign
Minister Mangala Samaraweera has said.
Addressing the high level segment of the
28th Session of the U.N. Human Rights
Council in Geneva, the Minister briefed the
Council on developments in Sri Lanka
following the presidential election on
January 8.
Pointing to the Maithripala Sirisena
governments efforts to ensure media
freedom, Mr. Samaraweera said it
unblocked websites that were earlier
blocked, lifted restrictions placed on
foreign media personnel visiting the
country, enabled journalists to travel freely
to all parts of the country and invited all
media personnel living in exile to return.
The Human Rights Council, in March 2014,

adopted a U.S.-sponsored resolution
calling for an international probe into
allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
As many as 23 countries backed the
resolution then, while 12 voted against it
and 12 other countries, including India,
abstained.
The Mahinda Rajapaksa administration
then had refused any cooperation to the
process and rejected the resolution.
A year later, the Council, in a clear
departure from its earlier stance on Sri
Lanka, deferred the key report on the
countrys conflict that was due for
submission in the ongoing March sessions,
to September 2015.
The decision was to allow space for the new
government to demonstrate its willingness
to cooperate on human rights issues, it said.
Google Maps goes trekking in Amazon
For its next technological trick, Google will
show you what its like to zip through trees
in the Amazon jungle.
The images released are the latest addition
to the diverse collection of photos
supplementing Googles widely used
digital maps.
The maps Street View option mostly
provides panoramic views of cities and
neighbourhoods photographed by carmounted cameras, but Google has found
creative ways to depict exotic locations
where there are no roads.
In its latest foray into the wilderness,
Google teamed up with the environmental
protection group Amazonas Sustainable
Foundation, or FAS, to explore a remote
part of an Amazon rainforest.
Google Inc. lent FAS its Trekker device, a
camera mounted on an apparatus
128
originally designed to be carried like a

backpack by hikers walking on trails.
FAS, though, sent the Trekker down a zip
line. Google is renowned for going out on
a technological limb, but even this project
made the company nervous at first, said
Karin Tuxen-Bettman, who oversees
Googles Street View partnerships.
The set-up required FAS workers to tread
through the rainforest to find a place where
they could string the zip line so the Trekker
would not bump into tree trunks and
branches as it zoomed through the thick
canopy.
With the help of some monkeys who joined
their scouting expedition, FAS workers
found just enough room to erect a zip line
for the Trekkers trip.
Since Google developed the Trekker
camera in 2012, the device has been
dispatched on other unusual journeys. The
Trekker went scuba-diving in the
Galapagos Islands to take underwater
photographs of the preserve, and travelled
on a dog sled in the Canadian Artic to
photograph the tundra.
Privacy issues should not be an issue in any
of the photographs taken by the zip-lining
Trekker. Birds and insects are the only
visible forms of life in the pictures it took.
Writers body donated for research

Thousands of people from all strata of life
on Sunday paid their last respects to
assassinated writer-blogger Avijit Roy.
The coffin of Avijit was placed on a
platform erected at the base of Dhaka
Universitys Aparajeyo Bangla, the
symbolic architecture built in memory of
the Bangladesh Freedom Fighters of 1971.
Keeping in with his wish, Avijits body was
handed over to Dhaka Medical College
Hospital for medical research. Avijit and
his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya were hacked

on Feb 26 by suspected extremists. His
badly injured wife is being treated at a
hospital in Dhaka.
Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia to trial new
flight tracking system
Indonesia and Malaysia will lead a trial to
enhance the tracking of aircraft over remote
oceans, allowing planes to be more easily,
Australias transport minister said.
The announcement comes one week ahead
of the anniversary of the disappearance of
flight MH370, which vanished last year on
a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with
239 people on board. No trace of the plane
has been found.
The trial is expected to use satellite-based
positioning technology already on board 90
per cent of long-haul aircraft that transmits
the planes current position and its next two
planned positions, said Airservices
Australia chairman Angus Houston, who
helped lead the search for MH370.
The trial would boost the frequency in
which planes would automatically report
their position, allowing air traffic
controllers to better track them, Houston
said.
There is no requirement for real-time
tracking of commercial aircraft and ever
since flight 370 disappeared, air safety
regulators and airlines have been trying to
agree on how extensively planes should be
tracked.
The Boeing 777 veered sharply off-course
and vanished from radar shortly into its
flight on March 8.
An international team of experts who
analysed a series of hourly transmissions
between the plane and a satellite later
determined that the plane travelled for
another seven hours before crashing
129
somewhere within a remote 60,000 square

kilometer or 23,000 square mile patch of the
Indian Ocean.
The Tablet set to celebrate 175th year of
continuous publication
The Tablet , the Catholic weekly regarded
as one of Britains oldest journals, is about
to celebrate 175 years of uninterrupted
publication.
Founded in May 1840 by a Quaker convert
to Catholicism, Frederick Lucas, it is
published in London but has garnered an
international audience.
Its anniversary will be marked with a series
of events throughout the year, including a
mass at Westminster Cathedral on 16 May.
In June, novelists Antonia Fraser, David
Lodge and Andrew OHagan, plus
historian Roy Foster, will debate faith and
fiction at the Tablet Literary Festival in
Birmingham.
In October, an interfaith seminar at the
London School of Economics will consider
whether Catholics, Jews and Muslims
remain outsiders in British society. It will
be moderated by Professor Conor Gearty.
Also that month, the pianist Stephen
Hough will perform a specially
commissioned Tablet Sonata at the
Barbican Centre. Throughout 2015, The
Tablet will also be awarding bursaries to
postgraduate students in religious studies
departments.
Catherine Pepinster, The Tablet s editor,
points out that few publications have lasted
175 years, adding: That a Catholic
publication should have done so, given the
tempestuous history of Roman Catholicism
in this country, is testimony not only to The
Tablet s journalism but to the capacity for
a minority group to thrive in Britain.
China formally backs trilateral partnership

with India, Sri Lanka
China formally backed a trilateral
partnership with India and Sri Lanka to
establish a Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and
promote the rise of Eurasia.
It is an announced by the Chinese Forign
Minister Wang Yi During a joint press
Conference.
He reinforced the three-way engagement
by pointing out that China would like to
expedite such cooperation and see
practical measures between China and
India, where each country would pool its
bilateral strengths, leading to Sri Lankas
social and economic development.
Mr. Wangs comments, signalling a more
inclusive strategic appreciation of the
region, run counter to Indian concerns,
expressed during former President
Mahinda Rajapaksas tenure, that a firm
military relationship between China and
Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean was taking
root, following the docking of a Chinese
submarine in Colombo.
Mr. Wang said China would certainly like
to hold talks with India on a triangular
relationship with Sri Lanka in the future,
in tune with Sino-Indian partnership on
key global and regional issues.
The Chinese Minister commented that
Beijing would like to see progress in IndiaSri Lanka relations, which would become
a factor of stability in South Asia.
With the conceptual lines of a triangular
relationship surfacing, Mr. Samaraweera
also said Sri Lanka saw China as a great
friend and India as a neighbour and
relative.
He stressed that Sri Lankas centrist and
pragmatic foreign policy, liberated from
any specific ideology, was grounded in the
130

principle of non-alignment, and was
ultimately geared to benefit the Sri Lankan
people.
Writer hacked to
Death in Dhaka
Suspected radical Islamists have hacked to
death a popular writer and blogger, Avijit
Roy, and seriously injured his wife Rafida
Ahmed Banna in Dhaka
. The couple came under attack as they were
returning home from Bangla Academy
Book Fair near the Dhaka University
campus.
Avijit, son of Prof Ajay Roy who taught
physics at Dhaka University, used to work
in the U.S. as a software engineer. He had
received several threats from Islamist
fundamentalists, said family members and
fellow bloggers.
The attackers dragged the couple onto the
footpath and hacked them with sharp
knifes. Avijit suffered a deep gash on his
head in the indiscriminate attack and
Banna, also a writer and blogger, lost a
finger and suffered cut wounds.
Islamist radicals have been threatening
Avijit, who was founder of popular blog
Mukto-Mona, for his sustained campaign
against Islamist radicals. He is also well
known for his books Biswaser Virus
(Virus of Faith) and Sunyo theke
Mahabiswa (From Vacuum to the
Universe).
Last year, Rakamari.com, an online
bookstore, was forced to remove Avijits
books from its list following threats by
Shafiur Rahman Farabi, a fundamentalist
blogger.
Mr. Farabi was arrested for posting
provocative comments on his Facebook
page supporting the killing of blogger
Ahmed Rajib Haidar in Mirpur on
February 16, 2013. He was later released

on bail.
The couple came to Dhaka recently to
attend the Bangla Academy Book Fair,
where two of his recent titles had been
launched. His writing and blogging had
evoked the ire of fanatics and he regularly
received threats. He was to fly back to the
U.S. on March 4.
The attack on Avijit resembles the one on
noted writer Prof Humayun Azad and
bloggers Rajib Haidar and Asif Mohiuddin.
Prof. Azad was also returning home from
the same book fair when he was hacked
with machetes by radical militants a few
years ago. He later died in Germany while
undergoing treatment.
The radicals had attacked several other
secular bloggers after the Shahbagh
agitation, demanding capital punishment
for war criminals, polarised opinions in
Bangladesh. Police said they recovered two
bloody machetes and a bag from the spot,
and were working to identify the killers.
Iraq statue-smashing video sparks outrage
A video of jihadists in Iraq gleefully
smashing ancient statues to pieces with
sledgehammers sparked global outrage
and fears that more of the worlds oldest
heritage will be destroyed.
The destruction of priceless Assyrian and
other artefacts from the main museum and
an archeological site in the northern city of
Mosul drew comparisons with the 2001
dynamiting of the Bamiyan buddhas in
Afghanistan.
Archaeologists and heritage experts called
for urgent action to protect the remains of
some of oldest civilisations in the world
and the U.N. cultural agency demanded an
emergency meeting of the Security Council.
131
Chinas draft anti-terrorism law high on

privacy and human rights
China is drafting an ambitious
counterterrorism law, which seeks to
address concerns over privacy and human
rights, without losing the sting to target
international terror groups.
The draft law has taken into account the
Charlie Hebdo terror incident in France, the
Copenhagen strike, as well as the essence
of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) led
by the United States.
Besides, the legislation has been sensitised
by last years deadly terror attack, at
Kunming station, in the countrys Yunnan
province, which left 29 people dead, and
scores injured
The draft advocates establishing
mechanisms that would ensure that access
to private phone and Internet records goes
through a strict approval procedure.
The information that is gathered should
also be used solely for the purpose of
counterterrorism and not otherwise. A
similar approval must also be obtained to
inquire into, seal up, seize or freeze assets.
The new law is being drafted at a time
when Chinese President Xi Jinping has
been calling for firmly implanting the rule
of law as the anchor for Chinas national
rejuvenation.
Chinese state-media has been reporting
that the President has been advocating,
Four Comprehensives a moderately
prosperous society, reform, rule of law, and
Party discipline as the blueprint for
Chinas future.
It challenges the western narrative on
counterterrorism and human rights by
pointing to a more rational Chinese
alternative.
Besides, it hopes to shore up CPCs
legitimacy, especially among Chinas cyber

connected youth. President Xi is well aware
of the dangers of a widening legitimacy gap
in his country.
Britain misses targets on immigration
control
The British government has missed its
targets on immigration control, which was
a key pledge by Prime Minister David
Cameron. He had promised in 2011 to cap
immigration at 100,000 by the end of the
current Parliament.
The figure for net migration (inflows minus
outflows) stood at 298,000 for the year 2014
till September, according to figures
released by the Office of National Statistics.
According to opinion polls, immigration
has emerged as a key issue for voters
ahead of the National Health Service, the
economy, unemployment and crime in
the run-up to a closely-fought general
elections this May.
However, while immigration into the
United Kingdom has substantially risen,
there is no evidence to suggest that this has
had a negative impact on jobs, wages,
housing and other public services for the
U.K.-born.
This are the findings of a study done on
the latest U.K. immigration statistics by the
Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)of
the London School of Economics, and the
first in a series of background briefings by
the CEP on important policy issues in the
run up to the general elections.
The report Immigration and the U.K.
Labour Market by author Professor
Jonathan Wadsworth finds that rising
immigration in the last 20 years means that
there are now around 7.8 million
individuals and 6.5 million adults of
working age living in the U.K. who were
132

born abroad.
Indeed, the doubling of the share of
immigrants among working age adults in
the U.K. between 1995 and 2014 from 8%
to 17% is not particularly different from
many other rich countries in terms of its
share of immigrants, he argues.
European Union (EU) countries account for
one-third of the total immigrant stock, and
new inflows of EU immigrants are almost
as large as inflows from outside the EU.
While EU arrivals are for work-related
reasons most non-EU arrivals are for studyrelated reasons.
While 30 years ago 30 per cent of all
immigrants came from just two countries,
Ireland and India, today these two
countries account for just 13 per cent of all
immigrants.
Death toll from Afghan avalanches crosses
200
More than 200 people have been killed in a
series of avalanches triggered by heavy
snowfall around Afghanistan, warning the
death toll could rise still further.
The bulk of the deaths came in Panjshir
province, north of Kabul, where at least 168
people were killed.
The avalanches came after days of heavy
snow, which destroyed more than 100
homes in the province and blocked main
roads, making it difficult for rescue
workers to reach the stricken villages.
U.K. mulls proposal to raise new Sikh
regiment
The British Army is examining proposals
to re-establish a Sikh Regiment, along the
lines of the erstwhile British Indian Army.
Chief of the general staff, General Sir
Nicholas Carter, is looking into the
feasibility of a Sikh unit, including the
possibility of a reserve company, and it

may well have merit, U.K. armed forces
minister Mark Francois told the House of
Commons recently.
A new unit would inherit many of the
proud traditions of Sikh regiments from
the armys past, he said.
Latest figures show the British armed forces
have around 160 Sikhs in their ranks,
including 130 in the army.
Thousands of Sikhs had served in the
British Indian Army during the two World
Wars. They were known for their bravery
and gallantry and won as many as 10
Victoria Crosses, the highest British
battlefield honour.
In 2007, the U.K.s Ministry of Defence had
scrapped a similar plan after the
Commission for Racial Equality warned it
could be seen as divisive and perceived as
segregation.
The Network of Sikh Organisations said it
was in favour of a Sikh unit.
Iranian wins award for giving voice to the

voiceless
An Iranian journalist has received a human
rights award in Geneva for creating a
Facebook page inviting women in Iran to
post pictures of themselves without their
headscarves in defiance of rules requiring
them to wear a hijab .
Masih Alinejad (38) launched Stealthy
Freedoms of Iranian Women last year,
attracting more than half a million likes on
Facebook in a matter of weeks. Thousands
of women took off their veils in public and
sent in their photos to be published.
The Geneva Summit for Human Rights and
Democracy, a group of 20 nongovernmental organisations, gave Ms.
Alinejad its womens rights award for
giving a voice to the voiceless and stirring
133
the conscience of humanity to support the

struggle of Iranian women for basic human
rights, freedom and equality.
Ms. Alinejads campaign, reported in the
Guardian last May, irritated Iranian
authorities, and state-affiliated media
launched a smear campaign accusing her
of using recreational drugs or being
perverse.
Ms. Alinejad said she was delighted to win
the award and hoped it would raise
awareness about Iranian women
demanding basic rights.
Ms. Alinejad, who lives in exile, told the
Guardian last year that she was not
opposed to the hijab and that her mother
was veiled, but she had created the page
because she wanted people to have the
freedom to choose.
A year after it was created, the Facebook
page has more than 760,000 followers and
still receives photos from Iran.
Many Iranian men have also supported the
campaign. One man took a picture of
himself along with his mother while she
was without veil last week, saying they
were both against compulsory hijab .
Draft Accord
Reached, says Greece
Euro zone Finance Ministers drafted an
outline agreement that could form the basis
for extending Greeces financial rescue
package, officials on both sides said.
However, they stressed there was no
formal deal on a common text in the full
19-nation Eurogroup of Ministers.
European Union paymaster Germany,
Greeces biggest creditor, had demanded
significant improvements in reform
commitments by the new Leftist
government in Athens before it would
accept a six-month extension of euro zone
funding.
With the 240 billion euro EU-IMF bailout
programme due to expire in about a week,
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras voiced
confidence of an agreement despite the
objections to the request made in a letter to
Dijsselbloem.
India-Israel ties out in the open, says Yaalon
In a statement of strategic significance,
Israel Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon
acknowledged that India and Israel ties
were out in the open after keeping a low
profile for years.
Talking on the significance of his visit, Mr.
Yaalon said that India was important to
his countrys defence industry and pledged
complete support to partner with India on
Make in India.
India and Israel established bilateral
relations in 1992 and with several common
concerns, strategic cooperation quickly
progressed. Since Mr. Modis government
came to power, India has been more
assertive in acknowledging the depth of the
relationship. Both sides have seen a flurry
of interactions even at the highest level.
India is one of Israels biggest defence
customers and both sides have embarked
on joint development of weapon systems.
A long-range surface-to-air missile under
development was tested for the first time
in November. In October, India selected
Rafaels Spike anti-tank guided missile
over the U.S. Javelin missile in a deal worth
$525 million.
Second film festival in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is rolling out the red carpet
for its second film festival in seven years
but the deeply conservative country has
one major problem cinemas are banned.
The kingdom practises an austere version
134
of Islam that does not permit conventional

entertainment venues such as cinemas so
screenings will take place in an arts centre
in the Gulf coast city of Dammam.
Organisers said they hope the five-day
festival will open eyes in Saudi Arabia to
the possibilities of film despite objections
from some conservatives that cinema will
Westernise the kingdom or corrupt its
morals.
Most of the film-makers being showcased
are under the age of 25, said Mr. Mulla, who
sees his role as helping them to develop.
Without cinemas, sadly there is no way
to show such films publicly in Saudi
Arabia, Mr. Mulla said, though many end
up on video websites such as YouTube.
Others are sometimes featured at small,
special screenings.
As well as no movie theatres, Saudi Arabia
has no film industry to speak of, said Mr.
Eyaf, whose award-winning 2006
documentary Cinema 500 km highlighted
the kingdoms theatre ban.
This years event comes seven years after
the first Saudi Film Festival, which Mr.
Mulla also directed.
Mr. Mulla expects an overflow audience at
the societys 600-capacity screening hall on
Fridays opening night.
U.S.-based news portal Mashable to foray

into Indian market
U.S.-headquartered news portal Mashable
announced its foray into the Indian market
in partnership with Zee Entertainment
Enterprises Ltds JV firm India.com.
Mashable, which termed India as one of its
top five global markets, said its Indian arm
would have an editorial team based in the
country for localised content.
Commenting on its India foray, Mashable
Founder and CEO Pete Cashmore said: As
Mashable continues to grow in parallel
with the expansion of digital, entering India

was an obvious next step.
Mashable India will have an editorial team
based in India for localised content. It will
offer the best global coverage from
mashable.com and augment it with
extensive editorial coverage from India.
The addition of Mashable India will
continue Mashables global expansion,
which began last year with the opening of
a U.K. office, while also adding reporters
in Australia and building a strong network
of global journalists.
Approximately, half of Mashables 42
million monthly unique visitors come from
outside the U.S., the company said.
Chinas Silk Road fund becomes
operational
China has taken a firm step to implement
its vision of the Silk Road Economic Belt
an initiative to integrate the economies
of Asia and Europe along the Eurasian
corridor by putting into operation its $40
billion infrastructure fund for this purpose.
Xinhua quoted President Xi as saying
during the November meeting with
officials from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos,
Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan and
Tajikistan that the purpose of the fund is
to break the connectivity bottleneck in
Asia.
The $40 billion fund was in addition to the
decision to establish a $50 billion Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is
also meant to help finance construction in
the region.
On Monday, the semi-official China
Business News quoted Zhou Xiaochuan,
governor of the Peoples Bank of China
(PBOC), as saying the $40 billion fund has
already started operations, with
registration on December 29 and the first
135
board meeting on January 6.

China has poured part of its foreign
exchange reserves in the fund, which
include investors such as the China
Investment Corp, the countrys sovereign
fund, and China Exim-Bank.
Analysts point out that as its economy
slows down from its earlier blistering pace,
China has developed large overcapacity in
construction material, including cement
and steel. Chinas One Road, One Belt
strategy, aimed at establishing new
growth engines along the Eurasian
corridor, could well absorb some of this
surplus.
China opens largest embassy in Pak
China has opened a new embassy in
Pakistan, its largest overseas diplomatic
mission, which Foreign Minister Wang Yi
described as a symbol of friendship
between the all weather allies.
As Chinas largest overseas embassy, it is
a symbol of friendship between China and
Pakistan, state-run China Daily quoted
Mr. Wang as saying. It however did not
provide the details of the new embassy. An
opening ceremony was held on February
13, during Mr. Wangs visit to Islamabad.
John Kerry heads for India to attend
Vibrant Gujarat Summit
US Secretary of State John Kerry headed
for India to attend the Vibrant Gujarat
Summit during which he will address
investors to boost economic ties and meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss
a broad range of bilateral and global issues,
including climate change.
The Secretary would be emphasising the
importance and future potential of our
economic partnership with India, State
Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told.
Obviously the discussion would be on

everything from continuing to do more
economically and technologically, given
that United States and India, we believe,
can reach greater level of prosperity
together than we would achieve alone, she
said.
The three-day Vibrant Gujarat Summit will
begin tomorrow in Ahmedabad. He
would also be reiterating throughout the
trip, our shared commitment to address the
challenge of climate change, promoting
clean energy in the future. Prime Minister
Modi has a strong track record in this
regard, she said, adding that the Obama
administration sees this trip as a pivotal
point in India-US relationship.
After a brief stopover in Munich to meet
the Sultan of Oman, Kerry leading a highlevel US delegation is scheduled to arrive
in Ahmedabad. Soon after his arrival, he is
expected to visit the Gandhi Ashram, meet
members of the civil society and visit the
Ford plant, which is expected to open
shortly. He would address the Vibrant
Gujarat Summit and hold a round table
with top Indian CEOs.
Kerry is scheduled to meet Prime Minister
Modi and hold another round-table with
American CEOs participating in the
summit.
Referring to the multi-fold increase in
bilateral trade in the last 10 years, which
stands now at about USD 100 billion, Psaki
said the summit is an opportunity to further
the goal that US President Barack Obama
and Prime Minister Modi have talked about
in terms of increasing trade five-fold to
USD 500 billion.
Sri Lankas new government to probe
Rajapaksas coup bid
Sri Lankas new government accused
former President Mahinda Rajapaksa of
136
having tried to stage a military coup to

remain in power following presidential
polls, which saw his chief rival and former
minister Maithripala Sirisena elected
president.
Mangala Samaraweera, a top aide of
President Sirisena, told reporters that the
coup was averted because the army chief
did not want to do anything against
democracy at that decisive time.
This, he said, was despite orders from Mr.
Rajapaksa and his brother Gotabhaya
Rajapaksa, then the defence secretary to
deploy troops to centres where the votes
were being counted late on January 8.
The new cabinet, to be sworn in soon,
would initiate an investigation into the predawn conspiracy as one of its first tasks,
he added. The allegations come just days
after sections hailed Mr. Rajapaksa for
stepping down gracefully and ensuring
a smooth transition of power .
The truth is it was not a smooth transition
of power, said Mr. Samaraweera, who
earlier served as Foreign Minister and is
tipped to be a key member of President
Sirisenas cabinet.
When contacted, Army commander
Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake told:
I have not seen those allegations yet, so I
cannot respond. Referring to earlier
concerns over the army being deployed in
the north and east to allegedly disrupt
elections, he said: You saw that there was
no such incident. The transition was very
smooth, he said.
On whether Mr. Rajapaksa or his brother
gave him orders to stage a coup, General
Ratnayake said: I cant comment on that,
it is very sensitive. You have to check with
the politicians. However, should the
government initiate an enquiry, the army
would cooperate in the process, he said.
Taiwan confirmed the H5N8 strain of bird

flu
Taiwans agriculture authority confirmed
that the strain of bird flu found in a goose
breeding facility in the Chiayi County was
the H5N8, which is not considered to be
highly pathogenic.
This follows the discovery of the highly
pathogenic H5N2 strain of the bird flu virus
at a chicken farm in the southern Taiwanese
county of Pingtung.
Agriculture council chief, Chen Bao-ji, said
that this was the first time that the H5N8
strain has been detected in Taiwan, adding
that it was suspected to have been spread
by migratory birds, according to a Xinhua
report.
The Chiayi County government began
culling more than 1,500 geese at the farm
on Sunday and a ban on the movement of
poultry in Pingtung, Tainan and Yunlin
counties was imposed.
The culling of 120,000 chickens on a farm
in Pingtung was completed after poultry
was found to be infected with the H5N2
strain. Avian influenza, known informally
as avian flu or bird flu, refers to influenza
caused by viruses adapted to birds.
It has caused a global concern because of
its possible transmission to humans and the
threat of a pandemic if it mutates to a form
that can be easily passed from birds to
humans and then, from human to human.
Emerging economies must help combat
climate change: U.N. Chief
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said
that while respecting the principle of
common but differentiated responsibilities,
emerging economies such as India, China,
South Africa and Brazil should take
necessary action to combat climate change.
Interacting with presspersons after visiting
137
a canal-top solar power project, he said the

developed countries had caused much
more impact on climate than the
developing nations and they had different
capacities to tackle impacts.
India was taking necessary action by
projects such as the canal-top power
project, a creative and impressive one
which all developing countries should
emulate.
To questions, he said climate finance was
the most important aspect to make
combating climate change a success. India
could play a vital role as one of the fastest
growing economies.
He was catalysing funds into the Green
Climate Fund, which had topped $10
billion last year. He was optimistic about
arriving at a new, robust climate treaty in
Paris.
India-U.S. to
Jointly fight cancer & Ebola
India and the United States are expected

to sign memoranda of understanding on
cancer research and Ebola control when
U.S. President Barack Obama arrives later
this month.
Union Minister for Health and Family
Welfare J.P. Nadda said the two countries
had agreed to jointly fight Ebola. Under the
agreement, Indian health care personnel
will be trained in Ebola control and
treatment procedures.
The Indian Council of Medical Research
is already working on producing a vaccine
for Ebola. But this MoU will focus on
capacity building in areas of Ebola control,
a senior official of the Ministry said.
Though India has had no reported cases of
Ebola, the disease has so far claimed over
7,000 lives in the affected countries. A 26
year-old, who had travelled from Liberia
to India and was found carrying the virus

in his semen, remains in isolation.
Another MoU is to be signed between the
National Cancer Institute, U.S., and the
upcoming National Cancer Institute in
Jhajjar, for sharing of treatment plans,
expertise and research.
The NCI in the United States coordinates
the National Cancer Programme, which
conducts and supports research, training,
health information dissemination, and
other programmes with respect to the
cause, diagnosis, prevention and treatment
of cancer, rehabilitation and the continuing
care of cancer patients and their families.
At the institute in Jhajjar being developed
by the AIIMS, cancer research will be the
area of focus apart from patient care and
management. India reports 11 lakh new
cases of cancer every year, with a mortality
rate of 5.5 lakh per year.
Cancer treatment facilities in India are
inadequate, compared to WHO standards,
which requires one radiotherapy machine
per million population. India at present has
0.41 machine per million population.
Leading U.K. papers reproduce survivors

issue cover
Newsrooms in publications across the
United Kingdom saw fierce debates over
whether to reproduce the cover of the latest
issue of Charlie Hebdo the survivors
issue as it has been called which went
into a record 5 million print run on January
14.
The latest issue of the satirical magazine
carries a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad
on its cover that is a tearful and forgiving
depiction of the founder of Islam.
While some publications have opted to
publish the page in their regular reportage
on developments around the weekly
138

magazine that lost six of its editorial
leadership and three others to terrorist
bullets last week others have declined
to do so.
The Guardian; Times; Independent;
Financial Times and the BBC have
published the cartoon, as have major
websites like Huffington Post, Buzzfeed
and the news sites of Yahoo and Google.
The magazine sold out in France, and
selling at astronomical prices on ebay
will be available in Britain at select outlets.
Bookshops and magazine distributers are
cagey about the number of copies that they
are likely to receive.
The Muslim Council of Britain has
responded to the publication with restraint.
A statement signed by 53 imams of
mosques from across Britain, said that
although most Muslims will be hurt,
offended and upset by the re-publication
of the cartoon, the best and immediate
response is to emulate the enduring
patience, tolerance, gentleness and mercy
as was the character of our beloved
Prophet.
Japan approves its largest defence budget
Japan approved its largest-ever defence
budget for the next fiscal year, as Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe looks to strengthen
surveillance of territorial waters in the face
of a continuing spat with China.
For the year to March 2016, Tokyo will
spend 4.98 trillion yen ($41.97 billion), the
government said, rising for the third
straight year.
This is the largest budget ever, said a
defence ministry official, adding the
highest allocation previously was 4.96
trillion yen earmarked in 2002.
The trend reflects Mr. Abes wish to build
a more active military, with an eye on a
possible escalation of tensions with China.

Global economy to expand by 3% in 2015
Noting that the global economy is still
struggling to gain momentum while many
developing economies are less dynamic
than they were in the past, the World Bank
has projected that it would expand by three
per cent this year.
The global economy grew by an estimated
2.6 per cent in 2014, and is projected to
expand by 3.3 per cent in 2016 and 3.2 per
cent in 2017, the bank said in a report.
Developing countries grew by 4.4 per cent
in 2014 and are expected to edge up to 4.8
per cent in 2015, strengthening to 5.3 and
5.4 per cent in 2016 and 2017, respectively,
it said.
Following another disappointing year in
2014, developing countries should see an
uptick in growth this year, boosted in part
by soft oil prices, a stronger US economy,
continued low global interest rates, and
receding domestic headwinds in several
large emerging markets, it added.
In this uncertain economic environment,
developing countries need to judiciously
deploy their resources to support social
programmes with a laserlike focus on the
poor, and undertake structural reforms that
invest in people, said World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim.
Its also critical for countries to remove
any unnecessary roadblocks for private
sector investment. The private sector is by
far the greatest source of jobs and it can lift
hundreds of millions of people out of
poverty, he added.
Underneath the fragile global recovery lie
increasingly divergent trends with
significant implications for global growth,
the World Bank report said.
Activity in the United States and the United
139
Kingdom is gathering momentum as

labour markets heal and monetary policy
remains extremely accommodative. But
recovery has been sputtering in the Euro
area and Japan as legacies of the financial
crisis linger.
The oil price collapse will result in winners
and losers. Worryingly, the stalled
recovery in some highincome economies
and even some middleincome countries
may be a symptom of deeper structural
malaise, said Kaushik Basu, World Bank
Chief Economist and Senior Vice President.
As population growth has slowed in
many countries, the pool of younger
workers is smaller, putting strains on
productivity. But there are some silver
linings behind the clouds.
The lower oil price, which is expected to
persist through 2015, is lowering inflation
worldwide and is likely to delay interest
rate hikes in rich countries, he said.
This creates a window of opportunity for
oilimporting countries, such as China and
India. What is critical is for nations to use
this window to usher in fiscal and
structural reforms, which can boost long
run growth and inclusive development,
Mr. Basu said.
U.S. think tank flags readiness of Pak

nuclear weapons
Evidence has emerged this week
suggesting that Pakistan may have
accelerated its covert nuclear weapons
development programme and rendered
operational a nuclear reactor structure
located near a heavy water reactor, in a
complex that is likely geared toward the
production of plutonium.
High-resolution satellite imagery dated
January 15, 2015, shows that external
construction of the Khushab complexs
fourth reactor is complete and it has

become operational.
If, as the evidence suggests, Pakistan is
accelerating its nuclear weapons
programme, it may heighten tensions with
New Delhi, where the subject is likely to
come up when Prime Minister Narendra
Modi meets U.S.
President Barack Obama during Republic
Day celebrations next week.
In a report that included the satellite
photographs by Digital Globe, Washington
think-tank Institute for Science and
International Security (ISIS) said that the
assessment of reactor completeness and
operation was based on the presence of a
very specific signature: steam is venting
from the reactors cooling system.
The Khushab reactor complex was
originally constructed and became
operational in the 1990s, at that time
comprising primarily of a heavy water
production plant and an estimated 50
megawatt-thermal (MWth) heavy water
reactor.
Following the nuclear tests in India and
Pakistan in 1998, Islamabad initiated the
construction of a second heavy water
reactor between the year 2000 and 2002,
ISIS notes, a third one in 2006, and a fourth
one in 2011.
ISIS, which has closely tracked the progress
on the construction of the reactor complex,
noted that a January 2011 image showed
the building, similar in layout to the second
and third reactors at the same site, early in
its construction but by April 2011, the frame
of the reactor building and the main reactor
hall were visible.
Ordinance makes gender-neutral restrooms

compulsory
West Hollywood has joined the vanguard
140

of places that are taking steps to make
transgender people feel more welcome.
Last week, an ordinance took effect that
abolished the traditional designation of
men or women on single-stall public
restrooms, a bow to the requests of the
sizable community of transgender people,
who do not believe they fall into either
category.
Restaurants and other places with public
restrooms will not have to make any
changes if the bathrooms have multiple
stalls, but all single-stall public restrooms
have to be labelled gender neutral;
businesses have 60 days to comply, but can
do so by simply placing a gender-neutral
sign on any single-stall restroom.
This sweep of legislation reflects the
growing prominence and visibility of
transgender people. Amazon Studios
streaming show Transparent has received
widespread critical acclaim, and the lead
actor, Jeffrey Tambor, won a Golden Globe
last Sunday for his performance as a man
who identifies as a woman.
Cuba, U.S. open historic talks
The United States and Cuba opened two
days of historic talks in Havana to end
decades of Cold War-era animosity and reestablish diplomatic relations.
The meetings in Havana follow the historic
decision by U.S. President Barack Obama
and Cuban leader Raul Castro in December
to seek normal diplomatic relations.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Alex Lee and Cuban Foreign Ministry
official Josefina Vidal sat down for the first
day of closed-door talks.
Their opening remarks were not broadcast.
The reopening of mutual embassies, closed
since relations broke in 1961, will be at the
centre of Thursdays talks, which will be
led on the U.S. side by Roberta Jacobson,
the U.S. Assistant Secretary of state for

Western Hemisphere affairs.
Kerry issued summons in rights group move
against RSS
A U.S. court has issued summons to
Secretary of State John Kerry calling for his
response within 60 days to a lawsuit
demanding
that
the
Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) be designated
a foreign terrorist organisation.
Judge Laura Swain of the District Court of
the Southern District of New York said in
her summons that Mr. Kerry was required
to answer the declaratory lawsuit filed
by Sikhs for Justice, a human rights group
that had earlier filed a case against Prime
Minister Narendra Modi alleging
culpability for his role in the 2002 antiMuslim pogrom in Gujarat, which occurred
when Mr. Modi was the Chief Minister.
This weeks lawsuit, which acquires
significance in the context of U.S. President
Barack Obamas visit to India over the
weekend to join its Republic Day
celebrations, called for the Foreign Terrorist
Organisation tag for the RSS for believing
in and practicing a fascist ideology and for
running a passionate, vicious and violent
campaign to turn India into a Hindu
nation with a homogeneous religious and
cultural identity.
In its 26-page complaint, SFJ alleged that
the crimes of the RSS included the
targeting of religious minorities of India,
Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, citing
incidents of violence against these groups
in Gujarat, Punjab and Orissa, respectively.
Salman is new
Ruler of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabias elderly King Abdullah died
and was replaced by his half-brother
141
Salman as the absolute ruler of the worlds

top oil exporter and the spiritual home of
Islam.
Global leaders paid tribute to the late
monarch, a cautious reformer who led his
kingdom through a turbulent decade in a
region shaken by the Arab Spring uprisings
and Islamic extremism.
Another of the late monarchs halfbrothers, Moqren, was named the new
crown prince.
In his first public statement as the new
ruler, the 79-year-old King Salman vowed
to maintain a steady course for the
conservative kingdom.
Thai ex-Premier Yingluck impeached
Thailands junta-stacked Parliament voted
to impeach the former Premier, Yingluck
Shinawatra, hours after prosecutors
announced plans to indict her for
corruption in a double blow that risks
reigniting the countrys bitter divisions.
The successful impeachment of Ms.
Yingluck, the kingdoms first woman
Premier and the sister of former leader
Thaksin Shinawatra, carries an automatic
five-year ban from politics while the
criminal charges could eventually see her
jailed for up to a decade.
Experts say the impeachment and criminal
charges are the latest attempt by the
countrys royalist elite, and its army
backers, to nullify the political influence of
the Shinawatras, whose parties have won
every election since 2001.
But the juntas pursuit of the family could
also disturb the uneasy calm that has
descended on Thailand since the military
took over.
Consensus on implementing 13th amendment: Ranil
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil

Wickramasinghe said political parties have
agreed to implement the thirteenth

amendment as a solution to end the
countrys over three-decade-old ethnic
conflict involving the Tamil minority..
Power to Councils
He further said that all Provincial Councils

will have equal powers now that the Tamil
National Alliance has said that they are for
a solution within an undivided Sri Lanka.
Provincial Councils became part of the Sri
Lankan statute as a direct result of the
landmark 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka accord,
popularly known as the Rajiv-Jayawardane
Accord, after its architects Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Lankan
President J. R. Jayewardene.
Mr. Wickramasinghe also blamed the
former President Mahinda Rajapaksa for
failing to resolve the thorny issues
concerning the Tamil minority despite
having ended the two-and-a-half decadeold civil war with the LTTE in 2009.
On the U.N.s human rights investigation
on Sri Lanka, Mr. Wickramasinghe said it
was the result of Mr. Rajapaksas
mishandling of the issue.
Church of England: First woman Bishop
consecrated
The Church of England ended centuries of
male-only leadership as Reverend Libby
Lane became its first woman bishop in a
ceremony briefly disrupted by a
traditionalist priests protest.
Around 100 bishops gathered around the
48-year-old to perform the traditional
laying on of hands at the ceremonys
climax in the Gothic splendour of York
Minster, northern England.
The congregation of some 2,000 people
broke into applause and cheers and some
shed tears. Highlighting the divisions
which dog the Church despite a
142

painstaking reconciliation process, a lone
conservative opposed to women as bishops
had earlier disrupted the ceremony.
WikiLeaks accuses Google of handing over
e-mails to U.S.
Whistleblower site WikiLeaks accused
Google of handing over the e-mails and
electronic data of its senior staff to the U.S.
authorities without providing notification
until almost three years later.
Google was apparently acting in response
to warrants issued by the U.S. Department
of Justice, which is investigating WikiLeaks
for publishing hundreds of thousands of
classified military and diplomatic files.
WikiLeaks said that Google could and
should have resisted complying with the
warrants, as well as immediately informing
those whose data it handed over.
The information was handed over to the
U.S. authorities on April 5, 2012, but Google
did not inform the WikiLeaks staff until
December 23, 2014, according to
documents obtained by AFP.
Impeached Sri Lankan Chief Justice
reinstated
Sri Lankas new President restored the
countrys former Chief Justice after she was
controversially impeached by the previous
administration led by Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Lawyers welcomed Shirani Bandaranayake
with bouquets of flowers at the Supreme
Court in Colombo, although the decision
to reinstate her will likely be largely
ceremonial as she is expected to step down
on Thursday.
A government official who asked not to be
named said President Maithripala Sirisena
had written to Ms. Bandaranayake to say
her
2013
impeachment
was
unconstitutional and she should return to
work.
Annual
Abortion rate doubles in Pak.
Pakistan recorded 2.25 million abortion
cases in 2012, with the rate of annual
abortions doubling in 10 years due to
minimal use of contraception in its
conservative society, according to a report.
The report titled Induced Abortions and
Unintended Pregnancies in Pakistan was
carried out by Population Council in
collaboration with Guttmacher Institute in
U.S.
New China-Myanmar oil pipeline bypasses
Malacca trap
China has taken a firm step to beef up its
energy security by inaugurating a pipeline
that will bring crude oil from a deep water
port in Myanmar, along a transit route that
will bypass the strategic Malacca Straits.
The first tanker that will offload 300,000
tons of oil is expected to arrive on Friday
at Maday Island a deep water port
developed by China in the Bay of Bengal.
From there, oil, mostly brought from West
Asia and Africa, will be pumped into a 2402
km long pipeline that will stretch for 771
km in Myanmar and another 1631 km in
China.
A gas pipeline, next to the Maday Island
terminal, already runs from Myanmars
port of Kyaukpyu. China also finalised
plans to establish a rail corridor from
Kyaukpyu to its Yunnan province.
The strategic oil pipeline will service
Chinas two major growth centres
Kunming and Chongqing, an industrial
hub along the Yangtze River delta. Both
cities are pivotal in the development of
Chinas Silk Road Economic Belt, the 21st
century Maritime Silk Road. Kunming is
143
one of the starting points of the Maritime

Silk Road, because it connects with three
countries belonging to the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos. Landlocked
Laos in turn becomes the gateway to ports
in Thailand, and a wider transportation
network covering Malaysia and Singapore
as well.
Significantly, the new oil pipeline bypasses
the Malacca Straits a narrow channel
that connects the Indian Ocean with the
Pacific. The Chinese are concerned that
their access to the Malacca Straits the
main channel of their trade and energy
supplies can become compromised on
account of Beijings growing rivalry with
the United States, and maritime disputes
with neighbours in the South China Sea.
As oil begins to flow, the Chinese are also
building a refinery in Kunming that can
process 10 million tons of crude annually.
Part of the shipments received will also be
delivered to Myanmar, says the countrys
Vice-President U Nyan Tun. China and
Myanmar have jointly funded the project,
including the construction of the Maday oil
unloading terminal.
Analysts say that apart from enhancing
energy security, the construction of an oil
and gas pipeline from Myanmar is driven
by environmental considerations, as China
works to limit carbon emissions resulting
from its over-dependence on coal.
Italy: Sicilian judge elected President
Sergio Mattarella, a constitutional court

judge from Sicily is seen as a symbol of
Italys battle against organised crime, was
elected Italys new President.
The 73-year-old Sicilian, who was backed
by Prime Minister Matteo Renzis centreleft Democratic Party (PD), succeeds the
hugely popular Giorgio Napolitano.
Mr. Mattarella is little known to the public but is

widely respected after a 25-year parliamentary
career and several stints as Minister in governments
of the left and right.
Nepal committee passes Guidelines for

Constitution
The Proposal Drafting Committee of the
Constituent Assembly (CA) passed its
working guidelines, declaring that
principles likes democracy, federalism,
republicanism,
secularism,
and
inclusiveness would be an integral part of
the new Constitution.
In its second meeting, the Proposal Drafting
Committee (PDC), which has been tasked
to study the report submitted by the
Political Dialogue and Consensus
Committee on agreements and disputes
over the new Constitution, said no
questions would be prepared on it for
voting.
The new committee has been tasked to
prepare a questionnaire with Yes and No
voting option to decide the disputes.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP)-Nepal
boycotted the PDC meeting for not
entertaining questions on republicanism,
secularism and federalism.
U.N. agency says 2014 was warmest year on
record
The U.N. weather agency says 2014 was the
warmest year on record, though the
temperature difference with 2010 and 2005
is so small that its impossible to say for
sure which of the three years was the
hottest.
The World Meteorological Organizations
analysis on Monday mirrored findings two
weeks ago by NASA and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
and also included data from the Met Office
in Britain.
144

The Geneva-based WMO said surface
temperatures were 0.57 degrees Celsius
above average last year.
Thats slightly warmer than 2010 and 2005,
but the difference was within the
uncertainty margin of 0.10 degrees Celsius.
With 14 of the 15 hottest years recorded this
century, WMO chief Michel Jarraud said
warming is expected to continue as
atmospheric levels of heat-trapping CO2
rise.
Jordan executes two Jihadists after Islamic

State murders pilot
Jordan executed two Iraqi jihadists,
including a woman would-be suicide
bomber, in response to the burning alive
of one of its fighter pilots by the Islamic
State group.
The gruesome murder of airman Maaz alKassasbeh triggered condemnation from
governments across the Middle East.
Jordan said it hanged Sajida al-Rishawi and
Al-Qaeda member Ziad al-Karboli who
were both on death row before dawn at
a prison south of the capital.
Amman had promised to begin executing
Islamic extremists in response to the
murder of Kassasbeh, who was captured
by IS when his plane went down in Syria
in December.
Jordans King Abdullah II described
Kassasbeh as a hero and vowed to take the
battle to IS after a video emerged
purporting to show the caged 26-year-old
F-16 fighter pilot engulfed in flames.
Philippines braces for powerful typhoon
Hagupit
A wide swath of the Philippines, including
the capital Manila, braced for a
dangerously erratic and powerful typhoon
approaching from the Pacific, about a year
after the country was lashed by Typhoon

Haiyan that left more than 7,300 people
dead.
Typhoon Hagupit Filipino for smash
strengthened overnight with its sustained
winds intensifying to 215 kilometres (134
miles) per hour and gusts of 250 kph (155
mph). The local weather agency PAGASAs
forecasts show the typhoon may hit Eastern
Samar province.
But a forecast by the U.S. militarys Joint
Typhoon Warning Centre in Hawaii said
Hagupit (pronounced HA-goo-pit) may
veer northward after making landfall and
possibly threaten Manila, which has
population of more than 12 million people.
We have alerted the people of Manila and
were ready, Mayor Joseph Estrada said,
while acknowledging these typhoons
change direction all the time.
It is currently 450 kilometres (280 miles)
from the countrys eastern coast in the
Pacific Ocean and moving slowly.
If the first forecast holds, Hagupits path
will send it barrelling inland into central
Philippines along the same route where
Typhoon Haiyan levelled villages and left
more than 7,300 dead and missing in
November last year.
Still, Hagupits erratic behaviour prompted
the government to call an emergency
meeting of mayors of metropolitan Manila
to warn them to prepare. Manila is north
of the path that Haiyan took.
Japans economy likely shrank less than

expected in Q3
Japans economy likely shrank less than
initially estimated in the third quarter
thanks to an increase in capital expenditure,
underscoring views that the country only
slipped into a shallow recession.
145
The world third-largest economy probably

shrank an annualised 0.5 percent in JulySeptember, compared with a preliminary
reading of a 1.6 percent contraction,
according to a Reuters survey of 24
economists.
Capital expenditure is seen to have risen
0.8 percent for the quarter from a
preliminary 0.2 percent fall, the poll
showed.
The data could offer relief for Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe, who called a snap
election for December 14 after just two
years in office to seek voters mandate on
his Abenomics strategy to reflate the
economy and his decision to postpone a
second sales tax hike originally scheduled
for next year.
But the expected upward revision will
unlikely be strong enough to alter analysts
view that the economy remains fragile after
a sales tax increase in April dampened
consumer spending.
Although the economy continues
rebounding from falls after the sales tax
hike, there is no change to our view that
the pace of recovery will be only
moderate, said an economist at Japan
Research Institute in the survey.
Takeshi Minami, chief economist at
Norinchukin Research Institute, said the
economy will likely return to growth in
October-December, but there is still a high
chance the economy will shrink for this
fiscal year.
The Cabinet Office will release the revised
GDP data, and the finance ministry will
announce the current account balance for
October at the same time. The current
account balance probably shows a surplus
of 366.3 billion yen ($3.06 billion) in
October, helped by gains in income balance
which includes earnings from overseas
subsidies. It would follow a 963 billion yen
surplus in September.
The nations leading indicator of capital
spending, which will be released, is
expected to fall in October for the first time
in five months, but analysts said the fall will
be temporary as firms strong earnings will
help their expenditure.
FBI warns U.S. of
Destructive cyber attack
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
warned U.S. businesses that hackers have
used malicious software to launch a
destructive cyber attack in the United
States, following a devastating breach last
week at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Cyber security experts said the malicious
software described in the alert appeared to
describe the one that affected Sony, which
would mark first major destructive cyber
attack waged against a company on U.S.
soil.
I believe the coordinated cyber attack with
destructive payloads against a corporation
in the U.S. represents a watershed event,
said Tom Kellermann, chief cyber security
officer with security software maker Trend
Micro Inc. Geopolitics now serves as
harbingers for destructive cyber attacks.
The five-page, confidential flash FBI
warning issued to businesses provided
some technical details about the malicious
software used in the attack.
It provided advice on how to respond to
the malware and asked businesses to
contact the FBI if they identified similar
malware.
The report said the malware overrides all
data on hard drives of computers,
including the master boot record, which
prevents them from booting up.
The overwriting of the data files will make
it extremely difficult and costly, if not
146

impossible, to recover the data using
standard forensic methods, the report
said.
2014 could be hottest year on record says
WMO
The World Meteorological Organisation
(WMO) says 2014 is on track to be one of
the hottest, if not the hottest, on record,
according to its preliminary estimates
released during the climate talks.
This was largely due to record high global
sea surface temperatures, which will very
likely remain above normal until the yearend.
High sea temperatures, together with other
factors, contributed to exceptionally heavy
rainfall and floods in many countries and
extreme drought in others.
The WMOs provisional statement on the
Status of the Global Climate in 2014
indicated that the global average air
temperature over land and sea surface for
January to October was about 0.09C above
the average for the past 10 years (20042013).
The statement says that if November and
December maintain the same tendency,
then 2014 will likely be the hottest on
record, ahead of 2010, 2005 and 1998.
This confirms the underlying long-term
warming trend. It is important to note that
differences in the rankings of the warmest
years are a matter of only a few hundredths
of a degree, and that different data sets
show slightly different rankings, the WMO
pointed out.
Pak PM inaugurates China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor project
China and Pakistan have kicked off their
multi-billion dollar Economic Corridor
project that passes through Pakistan-
occupied Kashmir (PoK) by laying the

foundation of a fenced four-lane
motorway, setting in motion a mammoth
project connecting the two countries.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
performed the groundbreaking of a section
of the motorway in the countrys
northwest, signalling the implementation
of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) agreement.
The 60-km-long, 4-lane fenced Hazara
Motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province will cost $297 million and will
take two years to complete.
During his China visit earlier this month,
Mr. Sharif signed deals worth $45.6 billion
that included projects connected with the
Corridor, state-run Xinhua news agency
reported.
India has expressed its reservations to
China over the project as it is laid through
the PoK.
But, China defended the project saying it
will help regional development. Sceptics in
both the countries, however, point to the
rising tide of extremism in Pakistan which
makes its construction extremely difficult.
The tenuous political and security situation
in Pakistan prompted Chinese President Xi
Jinping to cancel his trip to Islamabad in
September during which he visited the
Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.
US passes bill to use of military force

against ISIS
A key US Congressional committee has
passed a bill authorising use of military
force against the dreaded Islamist State
militant group that has seized swathes of
territory in Iraq and Syria.
The Authorisation for Use of Military Force
(AUMF) bill allows the President to use
military force against ISIS for up to three
years.
147
But (it) limits the activities of US Armed

Forces from participating in ground
combat operations except in defined
circumstances, said Senator Robert
Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee.
AUMF passed by a vote of 10 to 8. This
AUMF would also require a report on the
comprehensive strategy for this campaign
after 60 days and sunset the 2001 al-Qaeda
AUMF after a period of three years
enactment, unless it is reauthorized, he
said.
Earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry
appeared before the Committee urging
Senators to approve force authorization.
Worlds first handcrafted herbal Holy Koran
unveiled in Dubai
The worlds first handcrafted herbal Holy
Koran, made from about 200 medicinal
plants, has been unveiled.
The Koran has been made by the Islamic
arts and calligraphy company, Heddem
Arts and has been crafted over 23 years
from 1957 to 1979 by Turkish Unani Doctor
Hamdi Taher.
The Koran is made of high potency herbal
mixtures prepared as per Unani medical
system.
Herbal sheets of the Holy Koran have
many therapeutic properties when the
reader moves his fingers on the letters or
in and around the pages, the herbal mixture
seeps through the pores in the fingers,
providing health benefits, Heddem Arts
said in a statement.
The herbal-cream-written Koran includes
606 pages and weighs about 7.5 kg.
Patiently handcrafted over the years,
every word and design in the Holy Koran
is made without using any printing
technology, tools or machinery because of
which it is truly one of a kind, Abdul

Azeaz Bin Hassan, Islamic religious adviser
at Heddem Arts, said.
After Bullet trains success, China wants to
develop world class nuclear technology
After successfully competing for highspeed rail links abroad, China now wants
to develop world class nuclear technology
a move that would not only lighten its
carbon footprint, but also help it emerge
as a major exporter of atomic power.
Last week, China decided to set up an
undisclosed number of shore-based
nuclear power plants, lifting the bar on new
ventures that was imposed in the aftermath
of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear
disaster in Japan.
The London-based World Nuclear News
website reported that days after the
Fukushima accident, Chinas State Council
decided to halt approvals and licensing for
new reactors until a safety plan was in
place.It also sought assurances that existing
plants were adequately designed, sited,
protected and managed. Li Pumin, the
spokesman of the National Development
and Reform Commission (NDRC), Chinas
top economic planner, announced that all
projects will comply with the highest
international security standards.
Currently, China runs 21 nuclear power
reactors, generating 19,095 MW of power.
An additional 27 units are under
construction, which would yield around
30,000 MW of electricity, when completed.
Yet, it is estimated that China would need
to set up another 13 reactors, if it is to meet
its 2020 target of generating 58 GW of
atomic power.
The post-Fukushima drive for nuclear
energy has been significantly spurred by
the clean-energy target set by President Xi
148

Jinping, who had announced that China is
focusing on peaking its emissions by 2030,
before its carbon footprint begins to slide.
Nuclear power generation has come into
sharper focus because of some of the
problems that China has recently
encountered with renewables. Last year,
China, the worlds largest producer of wind
energy and solar power, was unable to
utilise 11 per cent of wind power capacity
because of grid problems.
FIFA, Ebola among Facebooks most

discussed topics in 2014
The list Facebook released is a testament
to its global reach, given that more than 80
per cent of Facebook users live outside the
U.S. and Canada.
Worldwide topics the World Cup soccer
tournament and the Ebola outbreak
occupied the top two spots. But No. 3 was
the presidential election in Brazil. Facebook
says some 48 million people had 674
million interactions status updates, photos,
videos, comments and likes about the
highly contested event.
That made it the most talked-about election
of 2014 even more than the congressional
midterms in the U.S. At its best, social
media makes the world a smaller place and
builds community on a global level,
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebooks chief
operating officer, said in an interview.
Ms. Sandberg saw it fitting that the World
Cup the worlds most widely watched
sporting event was also the most widely
discussed event this year. More than 350
million people had 3 billioninteractions
about the tournament.
Cadila healthcare launches first cheaper
copy of worlds top-selling drug
Cadila Healthcare said it launched the first
biosimilar version of anti-inflammatory

medicine adalimumab, the worlds topselling drug, at a fifth of its U.S. price.
The drugs branded version is sold under
the name Humira by U.S. firm AbbVie Inc,
and costs $1,000 for a vial in the United
States. Humira had sales of $3.26 billion in
the quarter ended September, accounting
for 65 per cent of AbbVies total revenue.
A price of $200 a vial would still keep the
drug out of reach for most people in India,
where more than 70 per cent of the
population lives on less than $2 a day and
health insurance is scarce.
Biosimilars are cheaper copies of biotech
drugs medicines made from proteins
and other large molecules. Cadila expects
sales of between Rs.100 crore ($16.16
million) and Rs.200 crore from its
biosimilar of Humira in the domestic
market, Deputy Managing Director Sharvil
Patel told Reuters.
The company will launch its version under
the name Exemptia for treating diseases
such as rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile
idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and
ankylosing spondylitis.
China setting the stage for Silk Road

Extension
China is setting the stage for linking
Southeast Asia with its New Silk Road
initiative, through a railway corridor that
would connect the countrys Yunan
province with Thailand and Laos.
Chinas visiting Prime Minister Li Keqiang
is expected to sign an agreement with
Thailand on setting up two strategic dualtrack lines covering 734 km and 133 km.
Once completed, these lines will connect
Bangkok with Thailands Nong Khai and
Rayong provinces.
Mr. Li is in Thailand to participate in the
149
meeting of leaders of Mekong River region

countries Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam.
The new railway project will offer a new
channel for bilateral trade, and also help
form a potentially-lucrative tourist route
starting from Chinas Yunnan province, to
Laos Vientiane and Thailands Bangkok,
said Huang Bin of Thailands Kasikorn
Research Center, as quoted by Xinhua.
Thailands Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has earlier said that the railway tie ups
with Beijing were meant to amplify Chinas
Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st
Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has been
relentless in pushing for a Silk Road
Economic Belt a giant project that would
connect Asia with Europe along the
Eurasian corridor through rail, road, fiber
optic highways and energy pipelines.
Analysts point out that the growing ties
between China and Thailand are not
accidental. Beijing is apparently cashing on
the sourness that has developed between
Thailand and West following a military
coup on May 22.
The military takeover in Bangkok was
apparently prompted by the death of 30
people in sporadic violence that
encompassed protests against former
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Gen.
Prayut is now expected to visit Beijing next
week.
Foreign office building in Australia

evacuated over suspicious package
Australias Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade in the capital, Canberra, was
evacuated after a suspicious package was
found in the buildings canteen, police said.
Australia is on high alert after heavily
armed police stormed a Sydney cafe early
and freed terrified hostages being held

there at gunpoint for 16 hours. Two
hostages and the gunman were killed,
police said.
Japanese auto Honda set for record car sales
in 2014
Riding on new launches, Japanese auto
major Honda is set for over 62 per cent
growth in its sales in India this year at
around 1.8 lakh units. The company, which
launched two models mid-sized sedan
City and multi-purpose vehicle (MPV)
Mobilio during the year, had sold 1.11 lakh
units in 2013.
2014 was a very successful year for Honda
as it continued its growth journey for the
third consecutive year, Honda Cars India
Ltd. (HCIL) Senior Vice-President, Sales &
Marketing Jnaneswar Sen said in a
statement.
During January-November 2014, the
company sold 1.65 lakh units, up 61.8 per
cent, from 1.02 lakh units in the same
period of previous year. Mr. Sen said
Honda was set to end 2014 with a record
sale of 1.8 lakh units. In line with business
expansion, the company also made strong
progress in expanding its dealership
network during the year, and crossed the
milestone of 200 dealers in the country in
November 2014, he added.
The company plans to rope in another 100
dealers by the end of the next fiscal, and
take the total tally to 300 facilities by March
2016. Elaborating on the launches during
the year, he said that the new Generation
City, which was launched in January, had
sold more than 71,000 units till November
2014.
Reliance seeks immediate start of KG-D6
cost recovery dispute
With its KG-D6 cost recovery arbitration
150
stuck for three years, Reliance Industries

has sought immediate start of the
proceedings for early resolution of the
dispute.
Naming former UK judge Sir Bernard Rix
as its arbitrator in place of former Chief
Justice of India S. P. Bharucha, who quit
earlier this month, RIL through its legal
counsel has written to the Oil Ministry
seeking start of the proceedings from next
month, sources privy to the development
said.
Bharucha was earlier RIL nominee on a
threemember arbitration panel, which is
to decide if the oil ministry was right in
disallowing over $2.3 billion of KG-D6 cost
as output lagged targets.
He, however, recused himself after the
government challenged his nomination
more than twoandhalf years after his
nomination.
The government felt he had not disclosed
all previous associations with RIL and that
his arbitration could create doubts about
his independence and impartiality. The
company, in the letter, expressed distress
at the attempts of the government to
remove Justice Bharucha from the panel of
arbitration.
Bharucha, it said, has an impeccable
reputation and it was unfortunate that
the government chose to demonstrate, in
the course of an international arbitration,
that it did not have faith in a former chief
justice.
SpiceJet submits a revival plan to govt.

Troubled budget carrier SpiceJet submitted
a revival plan to the government on the
basis of a proposed investment of $200
million from founding promoter Ajay
Singh and US-based JP Morgan Chase.
It was a constructive meeting, the
airlines Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv
Kapoor told reporters after he submitted
the plan to Civil Aviation Secretary V
Somasundaran
at
the
Ministry
headquarters here.
He was accompanied by Mr. Singh, the
original promoter who is reinvesting in the
carrier. Maintaining that there was no
outstanding as of now with any oil
marketing company, he said with 18
operational Boeing aircraft, Spicejet was
currently flying 230 flights a day.
Spicejet has many well wishers including
Ajay Singh, the COO said. Besides Mr,
Singh, a fund managed by JP Morgan
Chase would also be one of the investors.
The potential investors are likely to buy
stake from current promoter Kalanithi
Maran by infusing USD 200 million within
a month to help the airline stay afloat.
The airline has already received Rs 17 crore
from the investors, official sources earlier
said, adding that it has wiped off all its
dues to the oil companies.
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151
India & The World
Bangladesh Government Approves Trade

Deal with India
Bangladeshs cabinet has approved a revised trade agreement with India allowing
for the trans-shipment of goods through
each others territories across land and
water routes through a third country in the
neighbourhood in a bid to remove a longstanding barrier to smoothening regional
trade.
Key facts of the deal
The revised agreement will facilitate both

countries to use each others land and water routes for trade with a third country and
remove long standing barrier in regional
trade.
With this Bangladesh will be able to use
Indian railways, roads and waterways in
transshipment of goods to Bhutan and
Nepal. While, India will be able to send
goods to Myanmar through Bangladesh.
Under the modified deal both countries
will be able to use transport networks for
transporting the goods for a fee. These fees
and charges for transporting goods will be

the same for both the countries and will be
fixed through bilateral discussions.
The deal will be in force for 5 years instead
of the existing tenure of 3 years, and further
can amended through mutual agreement.
At present, India has similar agreement
with Nepal and Bhutan but Bangladeshs
trade with Nepal and Bhutan was hindered
for want of such a treaty with India.
Previously, trucks from Nepal and Bhutan
entering from Bangladesh along the Indian
border were required to park at a specific
point near border. But under the revised
deal, trucks from Nepal and Bhutan will
enter Bangladesh through the Indian
corridors.
Dhaka and New Delhi signed their original
trade agreement in 1972 soon after the
emergence of an independent Bangladesh.
Under the terms of the deal, which had
crucial Indian support but expired on
March 31, trade could only be done
between the two neighbours while India
152

could transport goods to its seven northeastern states.
PM Modi Visits to France
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently
visited France, where India and France have signed
20 agreements in various fields .Below is the list of
agreements/initiatives/announcements signed/agreed
during Modis visit:
1. MoU between L&T and AREVA: It is aimed
at cost reduction by increasing localization,
to improve the financial viability of Jaitapur
project. It will also enable transfer of
technology and development of indigenous
nuclear energy industry in India.
2. Pre-engineering agreements between
NPCIL and Areva: The PEA studies intend
to bring clarity on all technical aspects of
the plant so that all parties (AREVA,
Alstom and NPCIL) can firm up their price
and optimize all provisions for risks still
included at this stage in the costs of the
project.
3. MoU between ISRO and CNES on Megha
Tropiques: The Indo-French Megha
Tropiques satellite was launched on board
the Indian launch vehicle, PSLV on October
12, 2011. The MoU shall extend by 2 more
years, the joint project for sharing and use
of data from the satellite.
4. MOU between ISRO, CNES and ONERA
for Ka-band propagation experiment over
Indian tropical region: The MoU envisages
cooperation for implementation of the
project concerning Ka- band propagation
experiment over Indian tropical region. The
main objective is to collect Ka-Band
attenuation data using available Ka-Band
transmission and perform analysis along
with corresponding radio meter and
meteorological data.
5. Programme between ISRO and French
National Centre for Space Studies (CNES):
The Agreement proposes cooperation in

the areas of Satellite Remote sensing,
satellite communications and satellite
meteorology; space sciences and planetary
exploration; data collection and location;
operations of satellite ground stations and
spacecraft mission management; space
research and applications. It covers the
potential cooperation activities such as joint
earth observation mission, hosted payload
opportunities and Mars exploration.
6. MoU on Cooperation between the Ministry
of Youth Affairs and Sports of India and
French Ministry of Sports, Youth Affairs,
Public Education and Community Life The
MoU envisages cooperation and exchange
of experiences in the fields of sports
medicine, institutional cooperation,
development of practice of sports in the
context of proximity sports, support of
participation of women and the disabled
in sports, management and coordination of
sports federations, training of executives
and establishment of National Institute of
Sports in India based on French model of
INSEP.
7. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
cooperation in the field of renewable
energy between the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government
of India and the Ministry of Ecology,
Sustainable Development and Energy,
Government of France T
h
e
understanding reached in this MoU will
help establish the basis for cooperation and
relationship to encourage and promote
technical bilateral cooperation on new and
renewable energy issues on the basis of
mutual benefits and reciprocity through
exchange and training of technical
personnel, exchange of information and
data, joint research and transfer of knowhow and technology. It would cover solar,
153
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
wind, bio-energy, tidal and wave energy

sectors.
Railway protocol between Indian Ministry
of Railways and French National Railways
(SNCF): The Protocol seeks to establish
cooperation between Indian and French
Railways for semi-high speed rail and
station renovation.
Guarantee Agreement with AFD Financing
of Energy Efficiency Services Limited
(EESL): The Agreement seeks to finance
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)
Administrative Arrangement in the field of
Cultural Heritage: The Administrative
Arrangement between the Indian Ministry
of Culture and French Ministry of Culture
and
Communication,
envisages
cooperation in the field of cultural heritage,
through training of Indian heritage
conservation professionals at the Institute
National du Patrimoine (INP), a higher
education establishment of training for
curators and restorers in the field of
heritage in France, as well as Development
of cultural and scientific cooperation in the
fields of conservation and restoration of the
heritage, short duration training sessions
in India by INP trainers in Indian institutes
and training of French training in India etc.
Letter of Intent on Tourism: LoI for
increasing cooperation in tourism sector
signed between India and France aims to
promote sustainable bilateral tourism
between the two countries including
through mutual promotion of tourism,
ensuring safety of tourists and encouraging
sharing of expertise and best practices. The
LoI also seeks to facilitate twinning of sites
having historical, natural and cultural
significance in India and France for
promoting them as tourist destinations.
Letter of Intent (LoI) between the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and
13.
14.
15.
16.
National Institute of Preventive

Archaeological Research (INRAP): The LoI
envisages collaboration on preventive
archaeology projects, initiatives to
disseminate culture and promote
archaeology, training programmes for
specialists of ASI and deployment of
expertise, in particular, in the field of
underwater archaeology.
MOU between School of Planning and
Architecture, Delhi and National
Architecture Institute: The MoU envisages
cooperation to undertake joint planning
and geographical studies in India and
France and training of local counterparts
in modern urban and regional research as
well as in techniques of scientific methods
in Urban and regional planning,
geography, environment, Building
engineering and management.
MoU between Indian Heritage Cities
Network Foundation (IHCN) and
Association Nationale des Villes et Pays
dArt et dHistoire et villes a secteurs
sauvegards et protgs (ANVPAH) This
MoU envisages cooperation between to
cooperate in the fields of sustainable
development, urban planning, heritage
conservation and up-gradation of basic
services.
Proposal for twinning of historical
monuments: Twinning of historical
monuments is covered under the LoI on
Tourism Cooperation.
VIE scheme to allow Indian students in
France and French students in India to stay
for a period of 24 months. The Volontariat
International en Entreprise (VIE) scheme
offers Indian Visa for 12 months renewable
once for a period of 12 months for 250
French students and a second residence
permit of 12 months for the Indian
students in France following the 12 months
154

17.
18.
19.
20.
already granted.
Letter of Intent on Ayurveda between
Ministry of Ayush and University of
Strasbourg: LoI allows both the parties to
strengthen their relationships and
cooperation in the area of Ayurveda
education and research by undertaking
academic and research activities, exploring
feasibility of collaborative research, and
drawing up strategies for dissemination of
results of completed studies, Conducting
joint workshops/conferences on Ayurveda
as complimentary medicine in France
MoU between National Skill Development
Agency (NSDA), India and the National
Commission for Vocational Qualifications:
The agreement will facilitate exchange of
information and knowledge about
maintenance of qualification registers
through information exchanges, visits and
other suitable meetings.
MoU on cooperation in the field of Science
& Technology between Department of
Science & Technology of India and the
French National Centre for Scientific
Research (CNRS): The MoU is for
the areas of applied mathematics, physics,
Information & communication technology,
water resources and environment, life
sciences, astronomy, climate and energy by
exchange of information, organization of
meetings/workshops/seminars, exchange
of research personnel; joint projects;
establishment of Virtual Joint Laboratories,
and establishment of Joint Research
Centres.
MoU
between
Department
of
Biotechnology of India and CNRS and
UPMC on Collaboration forestablishment
of a National Institute of Marine Biology
and Biotechnology in India: The proposed
MoU seeks to establish a National Institute
of Marine Biology and Biotechnology in

India, with a Hub and Spoke network of
laboratories
India Contributes US $ 100,000 to The
International Trade Centre Trust Fund
Ambassador
and
Permanent
Representative of India to UN and other
International Organisations, Mr. Ajit
Kumar and Executive Director of ITC, Ms.
Arancha Gonzalez signed an agreement on
15 March 2015 authorising ITC to use
Indias contribution of US $ 100,000 to ITC
Trust Fund for its Trade Related Technical
Assistance (TARA) programme.
ITC is the technical cooperation agency of
UNCTAD and WTO for operational and
enterprise-oriented aspects of international
trade development. It was created in 1964
through a decision of GATT contracting
parties and in 1968 UNCTAD joined GATT
as co-sponsor. ITC supports developing
countries, particularly Least Developed
Countries (LDCs), Land Locked
Developing Countries (LLDCs), Small
Island Developing States (SIDS), SubSaharan Africa, fragile states, small and
vulnerable economies and economies in
transition to develop Small and Medium
Enterprise (SME) competitiveness through
trade and international business
development.
India Elected to Four
Key Bodies of UN
India has been elected to four key
subsidiary bodies of the United Nations
agency on economic and social issues. India
was elected by acclamation, a form of
election that does not use a ballot, to the
subsidiary bodies of the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) during its
coordination and management meeting on
Wednesday.
155
With the election wins, India maintained

its 100 per cent record of winning elections
held in the United Nations Headquarters
here.
Four Key Bodies are
United Nations Childrens Fund

(UNICEF): It was elected, along with 13
other nations, to the Executive Board of the
UNICEF for a three-year term beginning
January 2016. UNICEF addresses the needs
of children with emphasis on giving longterm benefits to children everywhere,
particularly those in developing countries.
World Food Programme (WFP): India was
also re-elected to the Executive Board of the
WFP for the 2016-2018 term along with five
other nations. WFP is the food assistance
arm of the UN which provides food
assistance to around 90 million people in
80 countries in a year.
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
(CCPCJ): It was among the 20 nations to
be elected to the CCPCJ for a three-year
term, beginning January 2016. The CCPCJ
provides policy guidance to UN Member
States on crime prevention and criminal
justice and develop, monitor and review
implementation of the UN crime
prevention programme.
United Nations Human Settlements
Programme (UN-Habitat): India also got
re-elected to the Governing Council of the
UN-Habitat for the term 2016-2019. UNHabitat is mandated by the UN General
Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with
the goal of providing adequate shelter for
all.
US and India Sign MoC on Transportation
U.S. Transportation Department has signed
a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on
Transportation with Indias Minister of
Road Transport and Highways, and of

Shipping, Nitin Gadkari. The MoC will
establish a Transportation Partnership
among the U.S. Department of
Transportation and the Indian Ministries
of Railways; Road Transport and
Highways; Shipping; and Urban
Development.
The Departments National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration has been
working with Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways on road safety programs,
including drunk driving countermeasures
and motorcycle safety. The MOC will
deepen the cooperation of our two
countries to include new important
activities relating to the development of
Smart Cities and sustainability.
Cooperation on the transportation elements
of Smart Cities will be coordinated through
an inter-ministerial working group and include areas such as intelligent transportation systems, multi-modal planning, livability, safety, and infrastructure financing.
In addition, both countries agree to cooperate on vehicle fuel efficiency standards
and promotion of dedicated freight corridors to facilitate the movement of goods
from Indias ports to major cities of the region.
India and Qatar
Sign Six Agreements
India and Qatar inked six agreements,
including on transfer of sentenced
prisoners, as visiting Emir of Qatar Tamim
Bin Hamad Al Thani held talks with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on energy,
investment and people-to-people ties.
List of Agreements /MoUs signed between Both
Nations
Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced

Persons- Under this agreement sentenced
prisoners will be transferred to home
156
country. Indian prisoners convicted in

Qatar will be brought to India to serve the
remaining part of their sentence. Similarly
citizens of Qatar convicted in India will be
sent to their home country to serve their
sentence.
MoU for Cooperation in the field of
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) It will provide
enhanced business opportunities for Indian
ITC industry in Qatar. With this MoU India
will play pivotal role in Qatars ambitious
programme of Qatar 2030 vision for overall
development. In this regard Qatar has
created a dedicated Ministry of
Information and Communication
Technology for capacity building in ICT.
MoU between Union Ministry of Earth
sciences and Qatar Meteorological
Department for Scientific and Technical
cooperation- For scientific collaboration
between India and Qatar to improve
atmospheric & Oceanic capacity in both the
countries. In this regard Qatars
Meteorological Department will be tie up
with Indian Meteorological Department.
MoU between Diplomatic Institute of
Foreign Service Institute, MEA and MOFA,
Qatar- Help in exchange of students,
trainees, faculty members and experts
between both nations to enhance their skills
and improve the training programme.
MoU for cooperation in the field of
Television and Radio- Encourage regular
exchange of TV and radio programmes and
material between Indias Prasar Bharati
and Qatar Media Cooperation.
Agreement for Mutual Cooperation and
Exchange of News- To enhance and
develop bilateral cooperation in the field
of exchange of English-language news on
daily basis and free of charge between two
nations. In this regard Qatari News Agency
and United News of India are the

signatories.
India and Japan sign Rs 1800 cr Loan for
Rengali Irrigation Project
The Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement
with the Government of India to provide a
33,959 million yen loan to increase irrigated
area in Phase 2 of the Rengali Irrigation
Project in Odisha.
The agreement was signed by Shinya
Ejima, Chief Representative, JICA India,
and Tarun Bajaj, Joint Secretary,
Department of Economic Affairs, Finance
Ministry.
The assistance will provide for the
extension of the canal from Samal Barrage
from 71.313 km to 123.5 km on the left bank
while also aiding the development of the
distribution system and ancillaries.
The JICA has extended nearly 647 crore in
Official Development (ODA) loans across
three tranches since 1997 to develop the
canal to help enhance agricultural
productivity in the area. The loans have
enabled irrigation of 27,200 hectares and
benefited 37,000 farmer households.
Assistance also includes canal designing
and irrigation management in which
farmers participate in the development and
subsequent operation and maintenance.
Rengali Irrigation Project: This is a barrage
scheme constructed across Brahmani River at Samal
in Angul district, 35 km downstream of Rengali dam
project. The project is designed to pick up flood
releases and tail race water from Rangali dam and
divert the same as per requirements through two canal
systems. The CCA includes both flow and lift
irrigation. The salient features of Rengali Irrigation
Project are given below:
Free catchment : 4,780 km2 at barrage site
(between Dam & barrage)
157
Total catchment : 30,030 km2

Mean Annual :
570 mm Rainfall
For this project, the Gross Command Area is
3,364 km2 while the culturable command area (CCA)
is 2,591 km2. The intensity of Kharif Irrigation is
100% and that of Rabi is 90%. The Kharif cropped
area is 2,591 km2 and Rabi cropped area is 2,332
km.
Bangladesh Government Approves Trade
Deal with India
Bangladeshs cabinet has approved a
revised trade agreement with India
allowing for the trans-shipment of goods
through each others territories across land
and water routes through a third country
in the neighbourhood in a bid to remove a
long-standing barrier to smoothening
regional trade.
Key facts of the deal
The revised agreement will facilitate both

countries to use each others land and
water routes for trade with a third country
and remove long standing barrier in regional trade.
With this Bangladesh will be able to use
Indian railways, roads and waterways in
transshipment of goods to Bhutan and
Nepal. While, India will be able to send
goods to Myanmar through Bangladesh.
Under the modified deal both countries
will be able to use transport networks for
transporting the goods for a fee. These fees
and charges for transporting goods will be
the same for both the countries and will
be fixed through bilateral discussions.
The deal will be in force for 5 years instead of the existing tenure of 3 years, and
further can amended through mutual
agreement.
At present, India has similar agreement
with Nepal and Bhutan but Bangladeshs
trade with Nepal and Bhutan was hindered
for want of such a treaty with India.
Previously, trucks from Nepal and Bhutan

entering from Bangladesh along the Indian
border were required to park at a specific
point near border. But under the revised
deal, trucks from Nepal and Bhutan will
enter Bangladesh through the Indian
corridors.
Dhaka and New Delhi signed their original
trade agreement in 1972 soon after the
emergence of an independent Bangladesh.
Under the terms of the deal, which had
crucial Indian support but expired on
March 31, trade could only be done
between the two neighbours while India
could transport goods to its seven northeastern states.
PM Modi Visits to France
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently
visited France, where India and France have signed
20 agreements in various fields .Below is the list of
agreements/initiatives/announcements signed/agreed
during Modis visit:
1. MoU between L&T and AREVA: It is aimed
at cost reduction by increasing localization,
to improve the financial viability of Jaitapur
project. It will also enable transfer of
technology and development of indigenous
nuclear energy industry in India.
2. Pre-engineering agreements between
NPCIL and Areva: The PEA studies intend
to bring clarity on all technical aspects of
the plant so that all parties (AREVA,
Alstom and NPCIL) can firm up their price
and optimize all provisions for risks still
included at this stage in the costs of the
project.
3. MoU between ISRO and CNES on Megha
Tropiques: The Indo-French Megha
Tropiques satellite was launched on board
the Indian launch vehicle, PSLV on October
12, 2011. The MoU shall extend by 2 more
years, the joint project for sharing and use
of data from the satellite.
4. MOU between ISRO, CNES and ONERA

for Ka-band propagation experiment over
Indian tropical region: The MoU envisages
cooperation for implementation of the
project concerning Ka- band propagation
experiment over Indian tropical region. The
main objective is to collect Ka-Band
attenuation data using available Ka-Band
transmission and perform analysis along
with corresponding radio meter and
meteorological data.
5. Programme between ISRO and French
National Centre for Space Studies (CNES):
The Agreement proposes cooperation in
the areas of Satellite Remote sensing,
satellite communications and satellite
meteorology; space sciences and planetary
exploration; data collection and location;
operations of satellite ground stations and
spacecraft mission management; space
research and applications. It covers the
potential cooperation activities such as joint
earth observation mission, hosted payload
opportunities and Mars exploration.
6. MoU on Cooperation between the Ministry
of Youth Affairs and Sports of India and
French Ministry of Sports, Youth Affairs,
Public Education and Community Life The
MoU envisages cooperation and exchange
of experiences in the fields of sports
medicine, institutional cooperation,
development of practice of sports in the
context of proximity sports, support of
participation of women and the disabled
in sports, management and coordination of
sports federations, training of executives
and establishment of National Institute of
Sports in India based on French model of
INSEP.
7. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on
cooperation in the field of renewable
energy between the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government
of India and the Ministry of Ecology,
8.
9.
10.
11.
Sustainable Development and Energy,

Government of France T
h
e
understanding reached in this MoU will
help establish the basis for cooperation and
relationship to encourage and promote
technical bilateral cooperation on new and
renewable energy issues on the basis of
mutual benefits and reciprocity through
exchange and training of technical
personnel, exchange of information and
data, joint research and transfer of knowhow and technology. It would cover solar,
wind, bio-energy, tidal and wave energy
sectors.
Railway protocol between Indian Ministry
of Railways and French National Railways
(SNCF): The Protocol seeks to establish
cooperation between Indian and French
Railways for semi-high speed rail and
station renovation.
Guarantee Agreement with AFD Financing
of Energy Efficiency Services Limited
(EESL): The Agreement seeks to finance
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)
Administrative Arrangement in the field of
Cultural Heritage: The Administrative
Arrangement between the Indian Ministry
of Culture and French Ministry of Culture
and
Communication,
envisages
cooperation in the field of cultural heritage,
through training of Indian heritage
conservation professionals at the Institute
National du Patrimoine (INP), a higher
education establishment of training for
curators and restorers in the field of
heritage in France, as well as Development
of cultural and scientific cooperation in the
fields of conservation and restoration of the
heritage, short duration training sessions
in India by INP trainers in Indian institutes
and training of French training in India etc.
Letter of Intent on Tourism: LoI for
increasing cooperation in tourism sector
12.
13.
14.
15.
signed between India and France aims to

promote sustainable bilateral tourism
between the two countries including
through mutual promotion of tourism,
ensuring safety of tourists and encouraging
sharing of expertise and best practices. The
LoI also seeks to facilitate twinning of sites
having historical, natural and cultural
significance in India and France for
promoting them as tourist destinations.
Letter of Intent (LoI) between the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and
National Institute of Preventive
Archaeological Research (INRAP): The LoI
envisages collaboration on preventive
archaeology projects, initiatives to
disseminate culture and promote
archaeology, training programmes for
specialists of ASI and deployment of
expertise, in particular, in the field of
underwater archaeology.
MOU between School of Planning and
Architecture, Delhi and National
Architecture Institute: The MoU envisages
cooperation to undertake joint planning
and geographical studies in India and
France and training of local counterparts
in modern urban and regional research as
well as in techniques of scientific methods
in Urban and regional planning,
geography, environment, Building
engineering and management.
MoU between Indian Heritage Cities
Network Foundation (IHCN) and
Association Nationale des Villes et Pays
dArt et dHistoire et villes a secteurs
sauvegards et protgs (ANVPAH) This
MoU envisages cooperation between to
cooperate in the fields of sustainable
development, urban planning, heritage
conservation and up-gradation of basic
services.
Proposal for twinning of historical
16.
17.
18.
19.
monuments: Twinning of historical

monuments is covered under the LoI on
Tourism Cooperation.
VIE scheme to allow Indian students in
France and French students in India to stay
for a period of 24 months. The Volontariat
International en Entreprise (VIE) scheme
offers Indian Visa for 12 months renewable
once for a period of 12 months for 250
French students and a second residence
permit of 12 months for the Indian
students in France following the 12 months
already granted.
Letter of Intent on Ayurveda between
Ministry of Ayush and University of
Strasbourg: LoI allows both the parties to
strengthen their relationships and
cooperation in the area of Ayurveda
education and research by undertaking
academic and research activities, exploring
feasibility of collaborative research, and
drawing up strategies for dissemination of
results of completed studies, Conducting
joint workshops/conferences on Ayurveda
as complimentary medicine in France
MoU between National Skill Development
Agency (NSDA), India and the National
Commission for Vocational Qualifications:
The agreement will facilitate exchange of
information and knowledge about
maintenance of qualification registers
through information exchanges, visits and
other suitable meetings.
MoU on cooperation in the field of Science
& Technology between Department of
Science & Technology of India and the
French National Centre for Scientific
Research (CNRS): The MoU is for
the areas of applied mathematics, physics,
Information & communication technology,
water resources and environment, life
sciences, astronomy, climate and energy by
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exchange of information, organization of
meetings/workshops/seminars, exchange
of research personnel; joint projects;
establishment of Virtual Joint Laboratories,
and establishment of Joint Research
Centres.
20. MoU
between
Department
of
Biotechnology of India and CNRS and
UPMC on Collaboration forestablishment
of a National Institute of Marine Biology
and Biotechnology in India: The proposed
MoU seeks to establish a National Institute
of Marine Biology and Biotechnology in
India, with a Hub and Spoke network of
laboratories
India Contributes US $ 100,000 to The
International Trade Centre Trust Fund
India Elected to Four

Key Bodies of UN
India has been elected to four key
subsidiary bodies of the United Nations
agency on economic and social issues. India
was elected by acclamation, a form of
election that does not use a ballot, to the
subsidiary bodies of the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) during its
coordination and management meeting on
Wednesday.
With the election wins, India maintained
its 100 per cent record of winning elections
held in the United Nations Headquarters
here.
Four Key Bodies are
Ambassador
and
Permanent
Representative of India to UN and other
International Organisations, Mr. Ajit
Kumar and Executive Director of ITC, Ms.
Arancha Gonzalez signed an agreement on
15 March 2015 authorising ITC to use
Indias contribution of US $ 100,000 to ITC
Trust Fund for its Trade Related Technical
Assistance (TARA) programme.
ITC is the technical cooperation agency of
UNCTAD and WTO for operational and
enterprise-oriented aspects of international
trade development. It was created in 1964
through a decision of GATT contracting
parties and in 1968 UNCTAD joined GATT
as co-sponsor. ITC supports developing
countries, particularly Least Developed
Countries (LDCs), Land Locked
Developing Countries (LLDCs), Small
Island Developing States (SIDS), SubSaharan Africa, fragile states, small and
vulnerable economies and economies in
transition to develop Small and Medium
Enterprise (SME) competitiveness through
trade and international business
development.
United Nations Childrens Fund

(UNICEF): It was elected, along with 13
other nations, to the Executive Board of the
UNICEF for a three-year term beginning
January 2016. UNICEF addresses the needs
of children with emphasis on giving longterm benefits to children everywhere,
particularly those in developing countries.
World Food Programme (WFP): India was
also re-elected to the Executive Board of the
WFP for the 2016-2018 term along with five
other nations. WFP is the food assistance
arm of the UN which provides food
assistance to around 90 million people in
80 countries in a year.
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
(CCPCJ): It was among the 20 nations to
be elected to the CCPCJ for a three-year
term, beginning January 2016. The CCPCJ
provides policy guidance to UN Member
States on crime prevention and criminal
justice and develop, monitor and review
implementation of the UN crime
prevention programme.
United Nations Human Settlements
Programme (UN-Habitat): India also got
161
re-elected to the Governing Council of the

UN-Habitat for the term 2016-2019. UNHabitat is mandated by the UN General
Assembly to promote socially and
environmentally sustainable towns and
cities with the goal of providing adequate
shelter for all.
US and India Sign MoC on Transportation
U.S. Transportation Department has signed a
Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on
Transportation with Indias Minister of Road
Transport and Highways, and of Shipping, Nitin
Gadkari. The MoC will establish a Transportation
Partnership among the U.S. Department of
Transportation and the Indian Ministries of Railways;
Road Transport and Highways; Shipping; and Urban
Development.
The Departments National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration has been
working with Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways on road safety programs,
including drunk driving countermeasures
and motorcycle safety. The MOC will
deepen the cooperation of our two
countries to include new important
activities relating to the development of
Smart Cities and sustainability.
Cooperation on the transportation elements
of Smart Cities will be coordinated through
an inter-ministerial working group and
include areas such as intelligent
transportation systems, multi-modal
planning, livability, safety, and
infrastructure financing. In addition, both
countries agree to cooperate on vehicle fuel
efficiency standards and promotion of
dedicated freight corridors to facilitate the
movement of goods from Indias ports to
major cities of the region.
India and Qatar
Sign Six Agreements
India and Qatar inked six agreements,
including on transfer of sentenced

prisoners, as visiting Emir of Qatar Tamim
Bin Hamad Al Thani held talks with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on energy,
investment and people-to-people ties.
List of Agreements /MoUs signed between
Both Nations
Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons- Under this agreement sentenced prisoners will be transferred to home country.
Indian prisoners convicted in Qatar will
be brought to India to serve the remaining
part of their sentence. Similarly citizens
of Qatar convicted in India will be sent to
their home country to serve their sentence.
MoU for Cooperation in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) It will provide enhanced business opportunities for Indian ITC industry in Qatar. With this MoU India will play
pivotal role in Qatar s ambitious
programme of Qatar 2030 vision for overall development. In this regard Qatar has
created a dedicated Ministry of Information and Communication Technology for
capacity building in ICT.
MoU between Union Ministry of Earth
sciences and Qatar Meteorological Department for Scientific and Technical cooperation- For scientific collaboration between India and Qatar to improve atmospheric & Oceanic capacity in both the
countries. In this regard Qatars Meteorological Department will be tie up with Indian Meteorological Department.
MoU between Diplomatic Institute of Foreign Service Institute, MEA and MOFA,
Qatar- Help in exchange of students, trainees, faculty members and experts between
both nations to enhance their skills and
improve the training programme.
MoU for cooperation in the field of Television and Radio- Encourage regular exchange of TV and radio programmes and
162

material between Indias Prasar Bharati
and Qatar Media Cooperation.
Agreement for Mutual Cooperation and
Exchange of News- To enhance and develop bilateral cooperation in the field of
exchange of English-language news on
daily basis and free of charge between two
nations. In this regard Qatari News Agency
and United News of India are the signatories.
India and Japan sign Rs 1800 cr Loan for
Rengali Irrigation Project
The Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement
with the Government of India to provide a
33,959 million yen loan to increase irrigated
area in Phase 2 of the Rengali Irrigation
Project in Odisha.
The agreement was signed by Shinya
Ejima, Chief Representative, JICA India,
and Tarun Bajaj, Joint Secretary,
Department of Economic Affairs, Finance
Ministry.
The assistance will provide for the
extension of the canal from Samal Barrage
from 71.313 km to 123.5 km on the left bank
while also aiding the development of the
distribution system and ancillaries.
The JICA has extended nearly 647 crore in
Official Development (ODA) loans across
three tranches since 1997 to develop the
canal to help enhance agricultural
productivity in the area. The loans have
enabled irrigation of 27,200 hectares and
benefited 37,000 farmer households.
Assistance also includes canal designing
and irrigation management in which
farmers participate in the development and
subsequent operation and maintenance.
Rengali Irrigation Project: This is a barrage
scheme constructed across Brahmani River at Samal
in Angul district, 35 km downstream of Rengali dam
project. The project is designed to pick up flood

releases and tail race water from Rangali dam and
divert the same as per requirements through two canal
systems. The CCA includes both flow and lift
irrigation. The salient features of Rengali Irrigation
Project are given below:
India & Sri Lanka
Signs four Agreement
India signs four agreement with Sri Lankan
government during recent PM Modi visit
to Island nation. This was the first bilateral
tour by any Indian premier in 28 years.
During this visit the both country has
singned four agreements on visa, customs,
youth development and building
Rabindranath Tagore memorial in Sri
Lanka.
PM here announced that, India is ready to
help develop Trincomalee as petrolium
hub for this the Indian government would
provide a fresh Line of Credit of up to US
$318 million for the railways sector in
Lanka.
Prime Minister also announced that the
apex bank of both the country i.e. reserve
Bank of India and Central Bank of Sri Lanka
have agreed to enter into a Currency Swap
Agreement of US $ 1.5 billion to help keep
the Sri Lankan rupee stable
PM Modi here urged Sri Lankan Government to fully implement the 13th Amendment as early.
India to Develop Infrastrucre in Mauritius
and Seychelles
With the motive to building strategic assets in
Indian Ocean countries, Mauritius and Seychelles,
as New Delhi signed agreements with them to
develop infrastructure in two islands one each in
both nations.
In Mauritius, India signed an MoU for the
improvement in sea and air transportation facilities
at Agalega island. This pact provides for setting up
and upgradation of infrastructure for improving sea
163
and air connectivity at the Outer Island of Mauritius

which will go a long way in ameliorating the
condition of the inhabitants of this remote Island.
In Seychelles, India inked a pact to develop the
infrastructure of Assumption island, one of the 115
islands that constitute the country. Spread over 11 sq
km, it is strategically located in the Indian Ocean,
north of Madagascar.
India signs security Coperation pact with
Mauritius
India and Mauritius announced a new security
cooperation agreement, as part of Prime Minister
Narendra Modis Indian Ocean outreach.
This agreement would give India a strategic
advantage in the Indian Ocean region, working
closely with the Mauritius Defence Forces guarding
the outer islands. In addition, India has extended a
$500-million Line of Credit for development or
security projects that Mauritius will decide on.
The highlight of Indias push for maritime heft
during the visit will be the commissioning of a 1,300tonne, Indian-built coastal patrol vessel, MCGS
Barracuda . The ship will showcase Indias
commitment on maritime security, particularly along
the African coast that faces the threat of piracy.
India and Spain
Signs a defence Deal
India and Spain have signed an agreement on
Mutual Protection of Classified Information to
provide the framework for enhanced bilateral
cooperation in areas of defence research,
development and technology cooperation. The
agreement was signed by the defence minister
ManoharParrikar and his visiting Spanish counterpart
Pedro MorenesEulate after the first full-fledged
delegation-level meeting between the two sides held
in New Delhi. During the talks, the Spanish side
evinced keen interest in participation in the Makein-India initiative in defence sector. Both sides
agreed to continue to work for enhancing bilateral
defence cooperation. They also exchanged views on
a wide range of issues concerning bilateral defence
cooperation and issues of regional and global
security. Eulate is on a two-day official visit to India.
He had earlier visited India in October 2012 as a
member of the Spanish delegation led by the King

of Spain.
India & Kyrgyzstan signs MoU on
Cooperation in textile sector
The governments of Kyrgyzstan and India have
signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on
cooperation in the textile sector.The document aims
at strengthening bilateral cooperation in three
directions: Textiles and Clothing, Silk and Sericulture
and Fashion.
The MoU aims to achieve this via:
Cooperation in development of trade, economic and investment relations
Techno-commercial collaboration, joint
trade missions
Stimulation of investment cooperation,
such as joint ventures, industrial cooperation, marketing, leasing and management
Mutual assistance in R&D, technical collaboration in product development and
manufacturing, testing and certification
Mutual assistance in skill development,
training and retraining of personnel,
carrying out of joint scientific, industrial
and other meetings and exchanges
Cooperation in export promotion
Facilitating of participation of business delegations, exhibitors and buyers of each
other in the trade exhibitions, buyers sellers meets, business forums
Mutual assistance in organizing visits of
technical experts, specialists and scientists
The MoU was signed by ShriSantosh Kumar
Gangwar, Minister of State for Textiles (independent
charge) and his counterpart Mr. Kubanychbek
Turdubaev.
The two countries have agreed to set up a Joint
Working Group (JWG) to explore details of
cooperation within the scope of the MoU and the
steps required to facilitate bilateral trade and
investment. The JWG will be co- chaired by an
official of appropriate level from the Ministry of
Energy and Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic and the
Ministry of Textiles of the Republic of India.
164

India and Nepal joint militaryexercise Surya
Kiran VIII concludes
Eighth India-Nepal Combined Exercise (Surya
Kiran VIII) which commenced on 23 Feb 2015,
concluded on 07 Mar 2015 at Salijhandi, Nepal. The
exercise was conducted under the aegis of Nepalese
Army. The exercise aimed to create a greater
understanding between Indian & Nepalese Army and
develop interoperability in Jungle Warfare and
Counter Terrorism operations in mountainous terrain.
It also focussed on the basics of Disaster Management
with special reference to Pandemic/ Epidemic control
and aviation aspects. Over the years, the two countries
have decided to progressively increase the scope and
content of the combined exercise. The training
culminated in a 48 hours consolidation and validation
exercise in which troops of both countries carried
out a search and destroy mission in the general area
of Saljhandi. The final exercise was reviewed by Maj
Gen PadamvillasKarki of Nepalese Army and Major
General VinodPrakash Singh Bhakuni of Indian
Army.
Kathmandu-Varanasi Bus Service Flagged
off
A direct bus service between Nepals capital
Kathmandu and Indias Varanasi city has recently
flagged off .The service has been started under the
Motor Vehicle Agreement between Nepal and India
signed during the visit of Indian Prime Minister
NarendraModi to Nepal for the 19th SAARC Summit
last November.
Nepals Minister of Physical Infrastructure and
Transport BimalendraNidhi and Indian Ambassador
Ranjit Rae flagged off the bus service from near the
Dashrath Stadium here. The Nepal-registered bus will
travel on the Kathmandu-Bhairahawa-SunauliAzamgarh-Varanasi route, covering the 600 km
journey in about 12 hours.
India & US held dialogue on United Nation
India and the US held their first ever bilateral
dialogue on the United Nations and multilateral
issues on February 19, 2015 in Washington.
The dialogue was held in the spirit of the Delhi
Declaration of Friendship to strengthen and expand
the relationship between the two countries. The

countries have vowed to hold regular consultations
in multilateral forums.
At the discussions focused was given on the
international peace and security, peacekeeping
operations, counter-piracy and the Post 2015,
Development Agenda, the UN Human Rights Council
and many other matters of mutual interest.
The US spokesperson was Sheba Crocker who
holds the post of Assistant Secretary of State for
International Organization Affairs, whereas Indian
delegation was led by Vikas Swarup, Minister of
External Affairs Joint Secretary.
In January 2015, during the US President Barack
Obamas visit to India, both nations had agreed to
elevate their long-standing strategic partnership.
This meeting was held in the bacdrop of an
statement issued by the India-US in January 2015
during the US President visit to India in which both
nations had agreed to elevate their long-standing
strategic partnership through coperation across all
areas of human endeavour.
India is worlds second most trusting nation:
Survey
Moving up the ranks, India has emerged
as the second most trusted country in the
world in terms of faith reposed on its institutions even as globally trust levels have
fallen, says a survey.
As the worlds rich and powerful gather in
the Swiss resort of Davos, a study by public relations firm Edelman has found that
general level of trust in institutions among
college-educated people around the globe
are at levels not seen since 2009 in many of
the markets it surveyed.
Trust in institutions in India has improved
sharply in 2015 with the country moving
up three notches to the second place among
27 nations.
While the number of truster countries are
at an all-time low of six in 2015 including
UAE, India, China and Netherlands, the
number of distruster countries has
grown significantly to 13 including Japan,
165
Russia, Hong Kong, South Africa and Italy.

Brazil, Malaysia, France and the US are
among the 8 neutral nations as per the
trust index, the survey said.
India, which last year saw the BJP-led NDA
government storming to power at the Centre, stands tall.
According to the report, an alarming
evaporation of trust has happened across
all institutions, reaching the lows of the
Great Recession in 2009.
Trust in government, business, media and
NGOs in the general population is below
50 per cent in two-thirds of countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Germany, it said.
From fifth most trusted in 2014, India has
now become the second-most trusted in
2015 with a score of 79 per cent in the barometer. The study has put India Prime
Minister Narendra Modis image on the
first page.
Vision statement on Asia-Pacific, Indian
Ocean
After meeting for close to five hours, including an extended lunch, tea on the
Hyderabad House lawns, and delegation
level talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and President Barack Obama issued three
separate documents: a declaration of
friendship with a commitment to regular
summits, a joint statement called Shared
Effort, Progress for all, and a joint strategic vision statement for the Asia-Pacific and
the Indian ocean region.
The last document could raise eyebrows in
China, when External Affairs minister
Sushma Swaraj visits Beijing next week, as
it elaborates on the clauses in their previous joint statement for the disputed maritime region, and says, We affirm the importance of safeguarding maritime security
and ensuring freedom of navigation and
over flight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea.
Conspicuous by its absence was mention

of cross-border terrorism or Indias issues with Pakistan, although the two sides
repeated their September commitment to
disrupt terror groups including Lashkare-Taiba, Jaish-e- Mohammad, D Company
and the Haqqani Network.
Germany eager to join Make in India
initiative
German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schuble expressed interest in working
with India in the manufacturing sector, especially in the auto and solar energy industries, at a meeting with business lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) .The
German minister is scheduled to hold talks
with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley .
Dr. Schubles positive note on German
manufacturing industrys readiness to participate in the Make in India policy comes
close on the heels of U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerrys voicing of the Obama
administrations worries over the initiative.
Mr. Modi is scheduled to jointly inaugurate the Hannover trade fair along with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel during
his visit to Germany in April 2015.
Obama, Modi at India US CEO Forum
The India-US CEO Forum began with Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President
Barack Obama present along with top business
honchos of both countries.
India Inc is led by Tata Group chairman Cyrus
Mistry.
The other CEOs who are expected to be present
are Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director
(CMD), Reliance Industries Ltd; Gautam Adani,
chairman, Adani Group; Sunil Bhari Mittal, chairman
and group CEO, Bharti Entreprises; Sashi Ruia,
chairman, Essar Group; Hari S Bhartia, co-chairman
and MD, Jubilant Life Sciences; and Kiran
Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon.
Among others are Anand Mahindra, CMD,
166

Mahindra and Mahindra; Deepak Parekh, chairman,
HDFC; Chanda Kochar, CEO and MD, ICICI Bank;
Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman, State Bank of
India; Vishal Sikka, CEO & MD, Infosys; B Prasada
Rao, CMD, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited; Sudhir
Mehta, chairman emeritus, Torrent Pharmaceuticals;
Preetha Reddy, executive chairperson, Apollo
Hospitals Entreprises; Anurag Kumar, director,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; and D.K.
Saraff, CMD, ONGC. Honeywell International
Chairman and CEO Dave Cote was likely to lead the
US CEOs team, which was to have Indra Nooyi,
chairperson and CEO, PepsiCo, and Ajay Banga,
CEO, Mastercard, among others. US-India Business
Council (USIBC) acting president Diane Farrell told
IANS: The Forum will be focusing on two-way
trade. Ease of doing business is something that will
be focused. That will attract more US business to
India. Market access issue of both the countries will
be discussed. US companies recognises the
importance of both these programmes of Digital India
and Make in India. The US companies will look at
the consistency and predictability of Indian market.
PIA closure will snap vital link between
India, Pakistan
Official Pakistani sources said they were
worried that the Enforcement Directorate
notice to the Pakistan International Airlines
on its offices in Delhi, had political overtones.
The move, they feared, would cut off a
vital link between both countries. PIA
runs the only flights between India and
Pakistan, with two flights a week on the
Delhi-Lahore sector and once a week on the
Mumbai-Karachi sector.
Pakistani officials insisted that the PIA service to India which started in 1976, would
not be cancelled, despite all the problems.
However, one official said there were apprehensions that the action came after Foreign Secretary talks were cancelled last
July, and indicated other actions could follow causing a further rift in ties.
India signs up for a Multi-crore Project

Union Minister for Science and Technology
Harsh Vardhan signed a multilateral
agreement admitting Indias participation
in the development of the Thirty Metre
Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii.
This project was rapidly cleared by the
Union Cabinet and India has agreed to
spend Rs. 1299.8 crores over the next
decade for this project.
Besides learning about the universe, India
will gain the technology to manufacture
fine aspherical mirror segments from the
California Institute of Technology
(Caltech). This technology, say experts, will
form the basis of the next generation of spy
satellites.
TMT will contain 492 hexagonal mirror
segments of 82 different kinds. These will
behave like a single mirror with an aperture
of 30 metre diameter.
This large collecting area of 650 square
metres is thrice as sensitive as the Hubble
Space Telescope. Indias role will primarily
be to create the control systems and software that keep the mirrors aligned and collects the data.
The control system is an intricate process
involving edge sensorsthat detect the
mutual displacement of mirrors, actuators
to correct their alignment, and the segment
support assembly.
India and France agreed to fast-track Rafale
deal
Indian and France to overcome differences
and fast-track ongoing negotiations for the
purchase of 126 Rafale fighter jets from
France, a Defence Ministry spokesperson
said.
The decision came during discussions
between visiting French Defence Minister
Yves Le Drian and his Indian counterpart,
167
Manohar Parrikar. Both sides also decided

to expand strategic cooperation, the official
added.
Negotiations have been going on since 2012
when India selected Dassault Rafale from
among competing medium multi-role
combat aircraft. Differences cropped up
between the two sides on delivery
guarantees and price.
The tender stipulates that the first 18 jets
should come in fly-away condition from
France, while the remaining 108 will be
manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd. (HAL) in India over seven years with
Transfer of Technology (ToT).
Dassault has refused to give delivery guarantees for HAL-made aircraft, which the
Air Force is insisting on. With the ToT, the
cost too escalated from the initial estimate
of $10 billion to almost $30 billion.
India very important player in climate
talks says the US
Terming India as a very important player
in the climate change negotiations, the US
has said it is not involved in any agreement
on climate with India ahead of President
Barack Obamas Republic Day visit to New
Delhi.
Indias obviously a very important player.
We dont have anything in the works of the
kind that we were involved with China,
U.S. State Department Special Envoy on
Climate Change Todd Stern said referring
to the recent US-China climate agreement.
Expressing hope for a productive
meeting between President Obama and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr. Stern
said the U.S. had done a lot of bilateral
work on energy with India.
Mr. Stern noted that the US-China
agreement did not come to fruition
overnight. It took several months of
bilateral talks to produce it and that there

is no such process going on at the moment
with India, he said.
He also said that U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry will be arriving in Lima as part
of a larger regional trip and will spend a
few hours at the COP.
He is not expected to play any role in the
negotiations and that Kerrys visit was
slated earlier and not in response to the
slow progress of talks, he said.
The draft elements text is mostly done
and will certainly pass on to the next CoChairs of the committee, he said.
Mr. Stern said the U.S. position on Intended
Nationally Determined Contributions
(INDCs) was to not make it complicated
and just ask countries for a limited set of
information like types of gasses covered,
sectors of the economy and any
assumptions made
India advocates balanced approach to cut

global carbon Emissions
India strongly advocated a balanced
approach in the draft text of a new binding
pact to cut global carbon emissions to make
sure that polluting countries pay and not
the poorest nations, as crucial U.N. climate
talks remained deadlocked.
The negotiators from more than 190
countries, who have been in the Peruvian
capital for about two weeks, have struggled
to prepare the elements of the draft due to
the logjam between developing countries
and industrialised nations that haggle over
the formula of sharing the burden for
cutting emissions, and who should pay.
Several developing nations rejected a draft
decision they said did not make the
distinction between what rich and poor
countries were expected to do.
The informal plenary regarding the Ad hoc
168

Working Group on the Durban Platform
(ADP) again met here after breaking at 4
a.m. Parties reviewed the draft text and
reconvened to state their positions on it.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar
delivered Indias statement, saying a
balanced approach in the draft text was
required to make sure polluting countries
pay and not the poorest countries.
He began his statement by saying that what
the like-minded developing countries, least
developed countries and the Africa group
is saying must be appreciated because
they are all speaking their heart.
India stuck to the consistent position that
all the elements of adaptation, mitigation,
finance, technology, and capacity building
should be included in the intended
nationally determined contributions
(INDCs).
At U.N. India may end support to Palestine
In what could amount to a tectonic shift in
the countrys foreign policy, the Modi
government is looking at altering Indias
supporting vote for the Palestinian cause
at the United Nations to one of abstention.
Two sources within the government
confirmed that the change, which will be a
fundamental departure from Indias
support to the cause of a Palestinian state,
was under consideration.
Like other foreign policy issues, the Modi

government is looking at Indias voting
record at the United Nations on the
Palestinian issue, a government told. The
change only needs an administrative nod.
Despite the growing defence and
diplomatic ties with Israel, the UPA
government, which junked traditional ally
Iran to vote with the United States at the
International Atomic Energy Agency in
2005, had baulked at making any change
in Indias support to the Palestinians.
Even former Prime Minister A.B.
Vajpayees government, which invited
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India
in 2003, did not amend Indias voting
record at the U.N.
Indias stance at the U.N. has been an
irritant in Indo-Israeli relations, with Tel
Aviv frustrated that close bonds had not
resulted in any change in the stance on
Palestine.
A senior Israeli interlocutor told a visiting
Indian External Affairs Minister some time
ago that New Delhi treated Tel Aviv like a
mistress by keeping the bilateral
relationship away from the public gaze.
This re-examination of Indias voting stance
will come as sweet music to Israeli ears just
as it will raise concerns in West Asian
capitals about the future course of Indian
foreign policy.
169
Economy
Home Ministry may not give licence to Sun

TV firms
The Home Ministry may not grant licence
to Kalanithi Maran-promoted Sun TV
Networks group companies citing the
alleged involvement of its owners in 2G
spectrum scam and Aircel Maxis cases
before various courts and investigating
agencies.
The stand is likely to be communicated to
the Information and Broadcasting Ministry
as Union Information and Broadcasting
Minister Arun Jaitley had written to Home
Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue,
according to official sources here.
The company operates 45 radio channels
under the brand name Suryan FM in Tamil
Nadu and Red FM in rest of the country.
The Home Ministry said the company and
its owners were allegedly involved in 2G
scam, alleged bungling in Aircel-Maxis
deal as well as running an illegal
connections of telephones used for
uploading their content, the sources said.

The company of Kalanithi, who is the
brother of former union minister
Dayanidhi Maran, had sought renewal of
licence of its radio channels from one phase
to another.
HDFC Bank, Apollo Hospitals join hands
HDFC Bank, in association with Apollo
Hospitals, has launched a co-branded prepaid card called HDFC Bank Apollo
Medical Benefits Card, which will enable
corporates to easily disburse medical
allowance to their employees without
waste of time and incurring any cost.
Corporates can load the specified
allowance on to the card of each employee
every month, which can be used by
employees for medical expenditure at panIndia VISA/MasterCard outlets. This card
offers an easy and convenient way for
corporates to save costs and eliminate
administrative issues while disbursing
medical allowances, said Parag Rao,
170

Senior Executive Vice-President and
Business Head, Cards Payment Products
and Merchant Acquiring Services, HDFC
Bank.
The Medical Benefit card is a win-win for
employees, who benefit from cashless
transactions for healthcare with unmatched
savings, and the employer in terms of
transparency, compliance and transaction
cost saving. All companies and their
employees will benefit and shift to this card
in the future, Shobana Kamineni,
Executive Vice-Chairperson, Apollo
Hospitals Enterprise Ltd., said in a
statement.
This first-of-its kind card offers employees
access to additional benefits such as
discounts and facilities, including free
ambulance services. The card comes with
a free accidental death insurance and
accident hospitalisation insurance, and
discount at Apollo Network (Apollo
Hospitals, Apollo Pharmacies, Apollo
Clinics and Apollo White Dental) across
India.
Emerson Process buys Ameya Transmissions
Emerson Process Management India, a part
of American multi-national Emerson, has
announced the acquisition of the Punebased manufacturer of gear operators and
gearboxes Ameya Transmissions for an
unspecified amount.
This acquisition would support Emersons
final control technology used primarily in
the oil and gas and power industries both
domestically and globally, the company
said.
Ameya Transmissionsdevelops and
manufactures a wide range of gear
operators, including quarter-turn and
multi-turn manual gearboxes, which are
supplied to the manual valve industry.
Gear operators and gearboxes are a critical

component of automated valve packages
to serve as a fail-safe in the event of a power
failure. Ameya has supplied over a million
gear boxes so far.
Ameyas reputation as a quality
manufacturer is a great strategic fit for
Emerson and strongly complements our
actuator business, said Amit Paithankar,
Managing Director, Emerson Process
Management India.
Apart from catering to the Indian market,
Ameya also has been exporting its products
to many countries including the U.K., the
U.S., Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria,
Turkey, China and Middle East. The
company has two manufacturing units.
This deal makes great sense for both
companies, said Rohan Pai, co-founder of
Ameya Transmissions. Our businesses
complement each other and we have the
opportunity to grow even further because
of Emersons global reach and commitment
to excellence, he added.
Tata launches GenX Nano
QUOTE: There is a huge opportunity in
the entry level hatchback segment in India
as entry level compact cars account for 15
per cent of Indias automobile market
Mayank Pareek, President, Passenger
Vehicle Business, Tata Motors
In a move clearly aimed at reviving the
fortunes of its mini hatchback, Nano, Tata
Motors on Tuesday launched the product
in a new refurbished avatar, the GenX
Nano, in a move clearly aimed at reviving
the fortunes of its mini hatchback. The
GenX Nano will replace existing models of
the Nano.
The new product, positioned as a smart
city car, comes with a range of new
technological features. The car will be sold
171
in five variants, starting with the base

variant, the XE priced at Rs.1.99 lakh (exshowroom Delhi) and the higher end XT
priced at Rs.2.49 lakh.
The company also launched two new
variants XMA and XTA with Easy Shift
Automated Manual Transmission (AMT).
While the XMA will be made-to-order and
available from August 2015, the top-end
XTA will be available post-national launch.
Mayank Pareek, President,
Passenger Vehicle Business, Tata Motors,
said, There is a huge opportunity in the
entry level hatchback segment in India. The
last three years were an aberration for the
Indian car industry and it is expected to
double in the next five years to become the
third largest after China and the U.S. The
new variants offer enhanced acceleration
and creep feature for heavy traffic
manoeuvrability and ease of parking.
The GenX Nano continues to have the
Electric Power Assisted Steering (ePAS)
designed for light steering feel and easy
parking. The GenX Nano offers fuel
efficiency of 23.6 kmpl and 21.9 kmpl for
the manual and AMT variants.
On the new AMT variants, Mr. Pareek said,
there is a huge propensity for AMT
vehicles and 30-35 per cent customers are
opting for it.
Govt may do away with mandatory RBI

approval for FDI
In a bid to attract more foreign investment,
the government is looking at doing away
with the mandatory approval of the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which
currently is needed after an investment
proposal has been approved by the FIPB.
Till now, the government and RBI shared
oversight over direct and indirect foreign
investments.
Sources said the Section 6 of the Foreign

Exchange Management Act (FEMA) has
been amended in the Finance Bill 2015
approved by Parliament earlier this month
to delete the requirement of RBI consent for
cross-border transactions and acquisition
or transfer of immovable property to
foreigners.
The Finance Ministry and the Industry
Department are working on new norms
which would be issued shortly, they said.
Under the proposed mechanism, all foreign
investment
proposals
requiring
government approval will only need FIPB
(Foreign Investment Promotion Board)
nod.
The regulation under FEMA that required
foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals
to be examined by RBI, is being done away
with, they said.
Currently, foreign investment is permitted
either through the automatic route or the
government approval route. The proposals
under the approval route envisaging
investment up to Rs 3,000 crore are cleared
by FIPB and beyond that require Cabinet
nod. The foreign investment is also subject
to sectoral caps which are specified in the
FDI policy.The move is aimed at making it
easier for doing business in India. India
currently ranks 142 out of the 189 countries
on Ease of Doing Business list.
SEBI notifies norms for MFs managing
offshore money
Simplifying norms for domestic funds to
manage offshore pooled assets, the
Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) has dropped 20-25 rule, which
required a minimum of 20 investors and a
cap of 25 per cent on investment by an
individual, for funds from low-risk foreign
investors.
172

As per the existing norms, a fund manager
who is managing a domestic scheme, is
allowed to manage an offshore fund,
subject to three specific conditions.
The first requires the investment objective
and asset allocation of the domestic scheme
and of the offshore fund to be the same.
The second condition requires at least 70
per cent of the portfolio to be replicated
across both the domestic scheme and the
offshore fund.
The third condition, which was being
considered as the most stringent by the
industry, requires that the offshore fund
should be broad-based with at least 20
investors with no single investor holding
more than 25 per cent of the fund corpus.
Otherwise, a separate fund manager is
required to be appointed for managing an
offshore fund.
In a notification uploaded on SEBIs
website, the regulator said these
restrictions would not apply if the funds
managed are of Category I foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) and/or Category II foreign
portfolio investors which are appropriately
regulated broad based funds.
Bachchans invest in Ziddu.com
Actor Amitabh Bachchan and his son
Abhishek Bachchan have invested $125,000
each in Ziddu.com, a Singapore based
website owned by Meridian Tech Pte Ltd.
The $250,000 investment will fetch them a
small, minority stake in the company
whose valuation is around US $ 71 million.
A free cloud storage and e-distribution and
micro payment platform founded by
Venkata Srinivas Meenavalli, it has a
development centre in Hyderabad.
We employ about 25 people in
Hyderabad, he told, adding that the
Bachchans were keen on investing more.

One of the leading families of Bollywood,
the Bachchans made use of the Liberalised
Remittance Scheme of the Reserve Bank of
India to invest in the company, he said.
Although the apex bank has doubled the
limit under LRS to $250,000 per person per
year, the Finance Ministry is yet to issue a
circular giving effect to the hike. This made
the Bachchans limit their investment to
$125,000 each.
Norms eased for investments by NRIs, PIOs,
OCIs
In a bid to increase capital flows into the
country, the Union Cabinet, announced a
major shift in foreign direct investment
policy by categorising non-repatriable
investments by non-resident Indians
(NRIs), overseas citizens of India (OCIs)
and persons of Indian origin (PIOs) as
domestic investment.
The Cabinet approved amendments to
FDI policy on investments by NRIs, PIOs
& OCIs. This will give PIOs & OCIs parity
with NRIs in economy and education, an
official spokesperson said.
An official release from the government
added that the measure is expected to result
in increased investments across sectors and
greater inflow of foreign exchange
remittance leading to economic growth of
the country.
The proposal was floated by the
Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion and the government had
formed a committee to deliberate on this
matter last year. The Narendra Modi-led
government, which has liberalised the FDI
policy for sectors such as defence, railways,
construction development, medical devices
and insurance, is keen to tap NRIs, OCIs
and PIOs.
173
During the April-February period of the

previous fiscal, FDI rose by 39 per cent to
$28.81 billion against $20.76 billion in the
same period last fiscal.
In another decision the Cabinet also
approved the revival of closed urea plant
in Sindri, Jharkhand, and setting up of a
new fertilizer plant in Namrup in Assam
at a total investment of Rs.10,500 crore. The
government also extended the timeline for
completing the National Automotive
Testing and R&D Infra Project (NATRIP)
by three years.
The extension of timeline will help the
project to be completed as per the
objectives, and ensure that state-of-the-art
automotive testing, homologation and
R&D facilities are made available in India,
an official release said.
Suresh Prabhu keen on putting PPP model
on track
Highlighting the achievements of his
Ministry in the past one year, Union
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said that
he was keen on putting the public-private
partnership model back on track and
having a regulator in place.
The Ministry of Railways has
implemented 39 announcements made in
the Railway Budget for 2015-16 in just 36
days of the current financial year, he said
in a statement. The same tempo of
implementation is being continuously
maintained.
He highlighted some of the key customeroriented initiatives, including a security
helpline, 182, and a new passenger
helpline, 138, to resolve complaints in realtime, paperless ticketing in some sections
and e-catering.
Mr. Prabhu said the focus had been on
capacity enhancement. We are aiming at
commissioning 500 km of new lines, 800

km of gauge conversion and 1,200 km of
doubling in 2015-16. A plan is being drawn
to utilise the project-execution capabilities
of our railway public sector units to
expedite the works we have proposed to
undertake in the next five years, he said.
The Minister said doubling or tripling of
94,000 km of lines on choked routes had
been sanctioned and various finance
options were being looked into. To
overcome the vicious cycle of chronic
under-investment, we are approaching the
markets for financing our revenuegenerating projects and assuring fund
availability to them. These projects, in turn,
will generate revenues not only for
servicing debt but also financing
investments, he said.
The Life Insurance Corporation has
committed Rs. 1.5 lakh crore over the next
five years, while the World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank are assisting in
setting up a facility for attracting low-cost
funds from long-term international pension
and insurance funds, Mr. Prabhu said.
RBI plans to introduce PPI for mass
transport system
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on
Thursday proposed to introduce a separate
category of semi-closed Prepaid Payment
Instruments (PPI) for Mass Transit System
(PPI-MTS).
The PPI-MTS can be used within the mass
transit systems and will have a minimum
validity of six months from date of issue.
Such PPIs will be re-loadable instruments
subject to an outstanding limit of Rs.2,000
at any point of time, RBI suggested in a
draft circular for public comments.
PPI for mass transit systems, which handle
a large number of small value cash
174
payments, will facilitate the migration to

electronic payments in line with the
countrys vision of moving to a less-cash
society, the RBI added.
Comments and suggestions should reach
the RBI on or before June 15, 2015.
The RBI said that it has been receiving
requests from various segments, including
providers of mass transit services, such as,
metro train and road transport services,
indicating the need for PPIs catering to the
requirements of this segment to enhance
commuter convenience.
The Reserve Bank of India also proposed
to make Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR)
applicable to banks in India from January
1, 2018.
RBI released on its website draft guidelines
on NSFR under Basel III Framework on
liquidity standards for banks.
It has requested for comments on these
guidelines by email at the earliest, but not
later than June 26, 2015.
The objective of NSFR is to ensure that
banks maintain a stable funding profile in
relation to the composition of their assets
and off-balance sheet activities.
The NSFR limits over-reliance on shortterm wholesale funding, encourages better
assessment of funding risk across all onand off-balance sheet items, and promotes
funding stability.
BusinessLine launches website for Bschoolers

The Hindu BusinessLine has launched a
new website, the first of its kind, which is
specifically tailored for B-schoolers and Bschool aspirants.
The site www.bloncampus.com or BLoC
is designed to complement the
curriculum and broaden a student
knowledge base with information that is

conveyed in a simple, cogent and
interesting manner. Apart from adding
value to academic pursuits, BLoC seeks to
prepare students for the workplace by
keeping them up to date with events and
trends that are shaping Indias corporate,
entrepreneurial
and
academic
environment.
The website features columns and analyses
by corporate leaders, educators, and
academics as well as short educational
videos. It will host a platform for Bschoolers to interact with the corporate
world through chats and Q&As.
The entire website can be accessed for free
for a trial period of a month. The special
invitation subscription offer, which can be
paid for online, are Rs.49 for a month,
Rs.249 for six months and Rs.499 for a year.
Bharat Electronics develops phones for
Army use
Secure, custom-made CDMA phone sets
developed by Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL),
are undergoing trials with the Army. The
phones, without camera, have in-built
safety features and may be deployed in a
year or two across the Armys various
units, BELs Chairman and Managing
Director S.K. Sharma told.
With work initiated more than a year ago,
the handsets are said to replace imported
ones that are not encrypted and are
vulnerable to eavesdropping by
unauthorised people. The Armys request
for information mentions base transmission
stations to be set up in three north-eastern
stations. The Navy is also said to be a
potential customer.
The indigenous version enables high data
transmission and its evaluation is in an
advanced stage, said Ajit T. Kalghatagi,
175
Director (R&D), adding BEL was geared up

to manufacturing them in large numbers.
The phone sets are made at the Ghaziabad
unit of BEL.
On the defence front, Mr. Sharma said the
focus was on indigenisation in radars,
electronic warfare devices, avionics,
network communication or C4i.
Telecommunication was also an important
initiative in non-defence business. BEL was
pursuing civil sector business areas such
as solar energy, e-governance and smart
cards besides inland security that falls
outside the purview Ministry of Defence.
It planned to generate 50 MW of solar
power along with other PSUs under the
national solar scheme over three-to-five
years and would invest Rs.300 crore in the
projects, Mr. Sharma said.
The defence electronics major makes
electronics, communication, radars and
imaging hardware for the three Armed
Forces.
It has declared an audited 2014-15 net profit
of Rs.1,167 crore and a turnover of Rs.6,695
crore. For the fourth quarter, the net profit
and the turnover were Rs.722 crore and
Rs.3,067 crore respectively.
Adani, Reliance sign deals for power

generation in Bangladesh
In yet another development in private
sector cooperation, Bangladesh signed two
memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with
two major Indian companies to set up 4,600
MW power plants in the country.
The MoUs were signed on the first day of
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis
visit to Bangladesh.
The deals, worth $5.5 billion, were inked
between the Power Development Board of
Bangladesh (BPDB) and Indian companies
Adani Power Ltd. and Reliance Power.
Under the deal, Adani will invest $2.5

billion to set up a coal-based power plant
with a capacity of 1,600 MW.
The Reliance Power will set up an imported
liquefied natural gas-based power plant in
Bangladesh with a capacity of 3,000 MW
with an investment of $3 billion.
The two Indian companies said they would
take 13 months to complete construction of
the plants after final agreements had been
reached.
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina has recently unveiled a 2.95 trillion
taka ($38 billion) budget for fiscal 2014-15,
stepping up spending on key sectors to
tackle power shortages that are crimping
economic growth and deterring
investment.
The country produces 7,000 MW of
electricity but demand far exceeds supply,
with a daily shortage up to 1,500 MW.
TCS, Infosys to face probe on visa violation
Indias largest and the second largest IT
services companies, TCS and Infosys, have
come under the scanner of a U.S.
investigation team.
According to media reports, the U.S.
Department of Labor has opened a probe
against the two companies for alleged H1B visa rule violations.
According to industry experts, the U.S.
investigation is an indication of stricter and
more stringent rules for onsite workers in
the U.S.
According to the New York Times (NYT)
on June 11, The Department of Labor has
opened an investigation into two Indiabased outsourcing companies for possible
violations of rules for visas for foreign
technology workers under contracts they
held with an electric utility, Southern
California Edison.
176

Of late, Indian IT services companies have
been facing the heat in the U.S. for alleged
H1-B visa violations. This particular visa
is a non-immigrant one that allows
American companies to employ foreign
workers in highly skilled jobs. Indian
outsourcing companies are the largest
recipients of this kind of visa, and for
Infosys and TCS, more than 60 per cent of
their revenue comes from the U.S. market.
The NYT report further said that Southern
California Edison had recently laid off
more than 500 technology workers, many
of whom claimed they were made to train
their replacements who were immigrants
on the temporary work visas brought in by
the Indian firms.
When contacted Infosys said, Infosys is
committed to complying with U.S. immigration laws. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regularly selects a percentage of
visa and labor condition applications for
extra scrutiny in this industry, and we work
closely with the DOL to assist them in this
activity in the ordinary course of our business. We have received no indication of any
broader investigation of Infosys visa practices.
The investigation from the Labor Department comes as a blow to Infosys, after a
U.S. district court dismissed the companys
plea to dismiss a case filed against the company.
Last month, the U.S. court accepted a case
filed by four American IT workers alleging Infosys of showing discrimination in
hiring.
In October 2013, the Bengaluru-based company had paid around $34 million as settlement amount for settling a visa-related issue with the U.S. government.
Meanwhile, TCS which is also facing the
investigation, said in an email, TCS maintains rigorous internal controls to ensure
we are fully compliant with all regulatory

requirements related to US immigration
laws including those related to H-1B visas.
The new investigation comes at a time
when Steven Heldt, a former TCS employee has filed a suit in San Francisco Federal Court accusing TCS of favoritism towards Asian workers.
On the backdrop of the U.S. investigation
on IT majors, the shares of all major IT companies witnessed a drop in Fridays trade.
On BSE, TCS closed at Rs.2,512.05 down
2.29 per cent, while Infosys closed at
Rs.1,976.65 down 1.26 per cent.
Yahoo to host developer meet in India
Mobile developers in India will get a firsthand experience of the Yahoo Mobile
Developer Suite this month, as internet
major Yahoo is bringing its Mobile
Developer Meetup for the first time to
India. The company will organise two
developer meets, one in New Delhi on June
24 followed by one in Bengaluru on June
26.
As a mobile-first company, we
understand the need for app developers to
have a strong mobile analytics and
monetisation engine. India has a vibrant,
rapidly growing app developer
community, which we are planning to
explore, said Jarah Euston, VP of Analytics
and Marketing, Flurry.
Yahoo Mobile Developer Suite is a
powerful combination of technology and
data from Yahoo, Flurry and BrightRoll.
The Suite is built on five offerings Flurry
Analytics with Explorer, Flurry Pulse,
Yahoo App Publishing, Yahoo Search in
Apps, and Yahoo App Marketing.
The Yahoo Mobile Developer Suite helps
developers build their app businesses,
monetise and create better experiences for
177
their users, to stand out in todays crowded

app market. At the event, mobile app
developers will also get the opportunity to
network with various mobile start-ups and
developer community. Indias mobile
Internet sector growing at almost 40 per
cent a year has spawned an exciting app
developer ecosystem, creating a
community that is riding the wave of
innovating not only for users in India, but
across the world, said Yahoo in a
statement.
Last year, Yahoo had acquired mobile app
analytics and advertising startup Flurry
and video advertising platform BrightRoll
to strengthen its mobile strategy.
SBI chief anticipates repo rate cut
There is the possibility of a decrease in the
repo rate cut in the near future owing to
multiple factors, State Bank of India (SBI)
Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya has
said.
Our in-house research indicates that there
will be space for another rate cut. However,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could have
a different view of the matter, she told
mediapersons on the eve of the
55{+t}{+h}Annual General Meeting (AGM)
of the State Bank of Travancore (SBT).
The regulator had raised concerns over a
deficient monsoon forecast and inflation.
But, pre-monsoon rain had been better
compared to the previous year, she said.
In the wake of worrying predictions, we
can only hope for a good monsoon. The
timeliness and spread of rain will also be
crucial.
The chances of a rate cut were higher if the
inflation did not go up as was being feared,
she said.
To a question, she said banks under the
State Bank group, which had Stressed
Assets Management Group, had been

tackling non-performing assets (NPAs)
fairly well. With the downturn in the
economy, we have seen a large amount of
loans getting stressed. Hopefully, as the
economy picks up, these loans will also
start performing better. All necessary
action in handling NPAs will be duly taken
by the respective banks, she said.
Cairn India set to merge into Vedanta in $2.3
billion deal
In move to cut debts, Indias largest private
miner Vedanta Ltd., headed by billionaire
Anil Agarwal, will absorb oil firm Cairn
India in a $2.3-billion all-share deal to
create Indias largest diversified natural
resources company.
Shareholders in Cairn India, the countrys
top private oil producer, will get one
ordinary share and 7.5 per cent redeemable
preference share of Vedanta Ltd with a face
value of Rs. 10. That implies a premium of
7.3 per cent to Cairns Friday closing price.
Vedanta will use Rs 16,867 crore cash lying
with Cairn to pay off part of its Rs 77,752
crore debt.
Post-merger, London-listed parent
Vedanta Resources Plcs holding in
Vedanta Ltd will drop to 50.1 per cent from
62.9 per cent.
The merger is the second step in the series that started in 2013 towards simplification of the corporate structure, Vedanta
Ltd chief executive Tom Albanese told PTI
in an interview.
Vedanta, previously known as Sesa Sterlite
Ltd, in 2013 consolidated its iron ore mining business by merging Sesa Goa Ltd with
Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd, which ran
copper and aluminium businesses.
This merger is about creating long-term
value that is not only good for Vedanta
shareholders but also good, attractive and
178

compelling for Cairn shareholders, he
said.
The merger will help Cairn spread its risk
from volatile oil business to other metals
and commodities.
BHEL & INTMA Ink MoU to set Up Power
Plant in Kazakhstan
State-owned power equipment maker
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with a Russian
company INTMA, to set up a gas-based
power project in Kazakhstan.
The MoU aims set combined path to
execute projects of mutual interest in Russia
and Kazakhstan. In this regard, BHELs
competence in design and manufacturing
of power plants will play important role
and INTMAs strength in handling
engineering procurement and construction
contractors (EPC) contracts will implement
the projects.
The MoU will further help BHEL in
consolidating its presence in the
Commonwealth Independent States
countries.
INTMA is one of the leading general
Engineering
Procurement
and
Construction contractors (EPC) in Russia
and Kazakhstan, with wide experience in
industrial construction, renovation of
facilities, automation and other energy
related sectors.
Nokia to Acquire Alcate-Lucent
Finland based telecom equipment manufacturer Nokia has announced that they
will acquire French based and Alcatel-Lucent with the intention to create an innovation leader in next generation technology and services for an IP connected world.
The two companies have entered into a
memorandum of understanding under

which Nokia will make an offer for all of
the equity securities issued by Alcatel-Lucent, through a public exchange offer in
France and in the United States, on the basis of 0.55 of a new Nokia share for every
Alcatel-Lucent share.
This merger will create the worlds largest
supplier of telecom equipments that powers mobilephone networks by surpassing
Ericsson and Huawei.
MUDRA Bank Scheme
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
Micro Units Development Refinance
Agency (MUDRA) Bank with a corpus of
Rs. 20,000 crore and credit guarantee of Rs.
3,000 crore. The Bank will provide credit
of up to Rs 10 lakh to small entrepreneurs
and act as a regulator for Micro-Finance
Institutions (MFIs).
The bank will be responsible for refinancing micro-finance institutions in the business of lending to small entities. MUDRA
will be set up through a statutory enactment. The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana
will be the main support system for the
bank and will be the part of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
The MUDRA bank was proposed in Budget 2015-16 by Union Government with an
initial corpus of 20,000 crore rupees. Apart
from this, 3,000 crore rupees also has been
earmarked as credit guarantee corpus.
The roles envisaged for MUDRA include:
Laying down policy guidelines for micro

enterprise financing business
Registration of MFI entities
Accreditation /rating of MFI entities
Laying down responsible financing practices to ward off over indebtedness and
ensure proper client protection principles
and methods of recovery
Development of standardised set of cov-
179

enants governing last mile lending to micro enterprises
Promoting right technology solutions for
the last mile
Formulating and running a Credit Guarantee scheme for providing guarantees to
the loans/portfolios which are being extended to micro enterprises
Support development & promotional activities in the sector
Creating a good architecture of Last Mile
Credit Delivery to micro businesses under the scheme of Pradhan Mantri
MUDRA Yojana
MUDRA Bank will provide financing on three

stages- Shishu, Kishore and Tarun
Shishu: This will be the first step when

the business is just starting up. The loan
cover in this stage will be upto Rs 50,000.
Kishor: In this stage, the entreprenuer will
be eligible for a loan ranging from Rs
50,000 to Rs 5 lakh.
Tarun: This last and final category will
provide loans for upto Rs 10 lakh.
Dena Bank & LIC sign MoU to Provide
Insurance Cover
State-run lender Dena Bank has signed an
agreement with LIC to provide insurance cover to
its savings account holders under the Prime
Ministers Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana
( PMJBY) scheme.
Key Facts of MoU
Under the Memorandum of Understanding, LIC will give a life cover of Rs 2 lakh
in case of death of the insured person at a
nominal premium of Rs 330 per annum.
Account holders in the age group of 18 to
50 years can avail of the product.
People who join the scheme before completing 50 years can continue to have the
risk of life cover up to the age of 55 years
subject to payment of premium.
The scheme will come into effect from June 1,
2015. The bank customers can join the scheme from

June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.
RBI Lowers Ceiling Rate
Concerned over the rising NPAs (nonperforming assets) in the banking sector,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
proposed to lower the ceiling on how much
a bank can lend to a single corporate group.
Under the proposal, banks can lend up to
25 per cent of their core capital to a single
corporate group.
Currently, they have been given flexibility,
with riders though, to lend up to 55 per cent
of their core capital to a single corporate
group.
The apex bank has proposed that the
revised lower ceiling could come into effect
from January 1, 2019.
The proposal is came with the
announcement made by the RBI in its
fourth bi-monthly Monetary Policy
Statement 2014-15 on September 20 to come
out with a discussion paper on the subject.
RBI Tightens Takeover
Norms for Shadow Banking
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans
tougher rules for takeovers involving nonbanking financial companies (NBFCs),
according to draft guidelines published on
Monday, outlining a demand that all
substantial deals seek its prior approval.
In its latest effort to boost transparency and
strengthen its grip on the alternative
lenders that account for a large part of the
domestic shadow-banking sector, the RBI
said any purchase of a stake of 26 per cent
or more in a company, or a change in more
than 30 per cent of its directors, would need
the central banks permission.
The RBI has been continuously trying to
strengthen this sector so that this should
180

not be a back yard for people we dont
know, said Sanjay Agarwal, Managing
Director of Au Financiers (India), an NBFC
from Rajasthan.
There are some 12,000 NBFCs registered
with the RBI, and they largely offer loans.
Some, like traditional banks, also take
deposits.
The RBI also said in its circular that the
source of funds behind new investors in
any NBFC will have to be disclosed. It also
asked for an undertaking that the new
proposed investors are not associated with
any existing but unregistered body that
accepts public deposits.
NBFCs play a critical role in extending
credit to areas where traditional finance
cannot reach in a country where only just
over half of the population has access to
the mainstream banking system. However,
controlling these NBFCs has been made a
key priority for the RBI, given their size and
reach.
India to Surpass Chinas Economic Growth
in 2015-16: IMF
The International Monetary Fund forecast
Indias growth to strengthen from 7.2 per
cent in 2014 to 7.5 per cent in both 2015 and
2016, overtaking Chinas growth for the
first time since 1999 that it projected will
slow down to 6.8 per cent.
The World Bank too projected Indias
growth to accelerate to 7.5 per cent in 2015,
but added that on the back of significant
acceleration of investment, growth could
even reach 8 per cent in 2017-18. The
country is attempting to shift from
consumption to investment-led growth, at
a time when China is undergoing the
opposite transition, the Bank said in its biannual South Asia Economic Focus report.
NCTI inks MoU with

Paytm to Promote MSME
National Centre for Trade Information
(NCTI) has tied up with Mobile commerce
platform Paytm to promote MSMEs scale
faster. The two organisations have signed
a memorandum of understanding to offer
a virtual marketplace platform for NCTI
members and will extend its services and
to enable them to sell online.
In this regard, Paytm will set up payment
gateways platform for online ticketing and
membership fees for NCTI. This tie-up will
play a pivotal role in the growth of MSMEs
by providing them with value-added trade
information generally for the trading
community. It will also provide platform
to NCTI members that will serve as an
opportunity to trade online and scale faster.
Snapdeal Acquires FreeCharge
Indias largest online marketplace,
Snapdeal has acquired FreeCharge, Indias
fastest growing mobile transactions
platform. This is one of the biggest
acquisitions in the history of the internet
industry in India and sets up Snapdeal to
build the most impactful digital commerce
ecosystem in India.
FreeCharge is Indias leading mobile
commerce platform where users can pay
their mobile, DTH and utility payments
across most major operators. Every day 75
million mobile recharges are done in India
by a section of Indias 800 million mobile
phone subscribers, out of which currently
only 3 million recharges are done online.
FreeCharge offers a convenient and
efficient solution applicable to hundreds of
millions of consumers for paying utility
bills, and especially doing mobile
recharges, which often ends up being the
first e-commerce transaction that a
181
consumer does online given the ticket size,

convenience and instant gratification.
With this acquisition, Snapdeal becomes
the largest mobile commerce company in
India offering the widest range of products
and services, including financial services,
mobile recharge and utility payments with
an exponentially growing user base of over
40 million.
Union Government
Approves Ten FDI Approval
Union Government has approved 10 Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) proposals worth 2857.83
crore rupees. These FDI proposals were approved
by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
Some of proposals approved are
Air Works India (Engineering) Private
Limiteds proposal to increase foreign equity investment at Rs 40 crore.
Ostro Energys proposal to invest Rs. 1,400
crore over next four-five years in wind energy assets in India via downstream investment.
IPCA Laboratories proposal for FII investment up to 35 per cent i.e. Rs 900 crore.
Reckitt Benckiser (India) proposal to acquire 24.88 per cent stake in Reckitt
Benckiser Healthcare India from its foreign
investor. This deal will result in a foreign
fund outflow of Rs 750 crore.
Syngene Internationals proposal to inject
380 crore rupees through 10 per cent foreign equity participation into the company.
Ambuja Cements proposal for acquisition
of 24 per cent shares in its holding company Holcim (India) for a share swap worth
Rs 3,500 crore has been referred to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA). FIPB approves the FDI proposals
under approval route. However, those proposals worth above Rs 1,200 crore are given
final approval to the CCEA.
About FIPB
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board

(FIPB), housed in the Department of Economic
Affairs, Ministry of Finance, is an inter-ministerial
body, responsible for processing of FDI proposals
and making recommendations for Government
approval. The extant FDI Policy, Press Notes and
other related notified guidelines formulated by
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
are the bases of the FIPB decisions. In the process of
making recommendations, the FIPB provides
significant inputs for FDI policy-making. Approvals
under PMO: The FIPB was initially constituted under
the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) in the wake of
the economic liberalization drive of the early 1990s.
The recommendations of the FIPB were approved
through a 3-tier approval mechanism, viz. FIPB as a
committee of senior officials to examine and make
recommendations; Empowered Committee on
Foreign Investment (ECFI) chaired by the Finance
Minister for deciding on the recommendations of the
FIPB for projects in which the total investment in
the project was up to Rs. 300 crore; and the Cabinet
Committee on Foreign Investment (CCFI) for
deciding on the recommendations of the FIPB for
projects in which the total investment was more than
Rs. 300 crore. Transfer to DIPP in 1996: The Board
was reconstituted in 1996 with transfer of the FIPB
to DIPP and approval levels were as under:
Recommendations of FIPB in respect of the
project proposals each involving a total
investment of Rs. 600 Crore or less would
be considered and approved by the
Industry Minister.
The recommendations in respect of the
projects each with a total investment of
above Rs. 600 Crore would be submitted
to the Cabinet Committee on Foreign
Investment (CCFI) for decision.
The CCFI would also consider the
proposals which may be referred to it or
which had been rejected by the Industry
Minister.According to Press Note 7 of 1999,
there would be no need for obtaining prior
182

approval of FIPB / Government for
increase in the amount of foreign equity
within the percentage of foreign equity
already approved in all cases in which the
original project cost was up to Rs. 600 crore.
Any company could infuse additional
funds by way of foreign equity as a result
of financial restructuring (provided there
is no change in the percentage of foreign
equity) and notify the same to the
Secretariat of Industrial Assistance (SIA)
within thirty days of receipt of funds as also
allotment of shares to non resident
shareholders. This procedure, however, did
not apply in cases of increase in the
percentage of foreign equity as also where
initial approval was granted by CCFI. Such
cases required prior approval of the FIPB
/ Government as per the existing
procedure.
The FIPB was transferred to the Department of
Economic Affairs; Ministry of Finance in terms of
the Presidential Order dated 30.01.2003. The levels
of approval, notified vide Order dated 11.07.1996
were essentially retained, except to the extent that
recommendations of FIPB for project-proposals
involving a total investment of less than Rs. 600 Crore
would be considered and approved by the Finance
and Company Affairs Minister and those with a total
investment beyond Rs. 600 Crore would be submitted
to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for
decision.
RuPay Card Holders of
all PSBs Enable on eComm
RuPay card holders of all public sector
banks are now eCommerce enabled. They
can now conveniently purchase rail, road
and air tickets by logging into the websites
(IRCTC, Cleartrip, Make My Trip, KSRTC
etc.) of travel companies or buy goods and
services from retail chains like Amazon,
Flipkart, Snapdeal, Jabong etc.
RuPay eCommerce is comparatively easy.
For the first time user, registration happens
as the transaction gets done. The only

additional step for first time user is to
choose a picture password which the
customer has to identify in subsequent
transaction.
This gives an additional layer of security.
Since One Time Password (OTP) is a part
of the security process, it is necessary that
a RuPay eCommerce customer is also
registered as a Mobile banking user of the
bank. NPCI aims at making every Indian
with a RuPay card and a mobile phone
eCommerce enabled.
The goal is make railway and bus ticket
booking also as much electronic as air ticket
booking said Mr. A.P.Hota, MD & CEO,
NPCI. Payments system in India is
maturing faster than in rest of the world
added Mr Hota. Over 30,000 online
merchants in the country now accept
RuPay cards as on date including Flipkart,
IRCTC, Jet airways, Snapdeal, LIC,
bookmyshow, Homeshop18 and others.
Some of the major issuing PSBs are - SBI,
BoI, BoB, UBI, PNB, Andhra, Dena, Indian,
Allahabad, Syndicate, Canara, Oriental
Bank of Commerce, among others live on
RuPay e-comm.
Union Government
Fetched Rs. 1.10 Lakh crores
The Union government has fetched about
1.10 lakh crore rupees after the auctioning
of a telecom spectrum. The spectrum
auction concluded on 25 March 2015 after
19 days and 115 rounds of rigorous
bidding. However the 11 percent airwaves
were not sold in this auction.
The process of auction was conducted for
800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100
MHz spectrum covering both mobile
telephony and broadband, including 4th
Generation (4G).
183
A total of 380.75 MHz of spectrum was put

on sale in the premium 900 MHz, 1,800
MHz and 800 MHz bands and 5 MHz of
spectrum was put for bidding in the 2,100
MHz band which is used for 3G mobile
services across 17 out of total 22 telecom
circles.
The spectrum auction included airwaves
held by 9 licences of Idea Cellular, 6 permits
of Bharti Airtel and 7 each of Reliance
Telecom and Vodafone that were expiring
in 2015-16. These auctioned airwaves
mostly included frequencies in 900 MHz
band and 1800 MHz band.
The government also auctioned airwaves
in 1800 MHz band that remained unsold
in 2014, and 800 MHz i.e. CDMA band
frequencies that were left after sale in 2013.
The Department of Telecommunication
(DoT) later will disclose details of the result
and names of successful bidders after the
Supreme Courts permission as a case is
pending in the court.
RBI Signs $400 m Currency Swap Deal with
Sri Lanka
RBI signed a $400 million currency swap
agreement with the Central Bank of Sri
Lanka for three years that will allow the
island nation to draw the amount in dollars
or euros in multiple tranches.
The swap arrangement is intended to
provide a backstop line of funding for the
SAARC member countries to meet any
balance of payments and liquidity crises till
long-term arrangements are made.
Background
In May 2012, Reserve Bank of India had

announced in the SAARCFINANCE
Governors meeting, held in Nepal, that it
would offer swap facilities aggregating $2
billion, both in foreign currency and rupee
to SAARC member countries.
The facility is available to all South Asian

Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) member countries. Besides India,
other members of SAARC are: Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
All 56 Regional Rural Bank (RRBs) on
RuPay Card & NACH System
National Payments Corporation of India
(NPCI), the umbrella organization for all
retail payments system in the country, has
enabled all 56 regional rural banks (RRBs)
in the country under its central payment
systems network with RuPay cards and
access to NACH (National Automated
Clearing House) service. With this
engagement, 120 million customers at
19,000 bank branches of all 56 Regional
Rural Banks are now part of the national
network of electronic payment systems.
Highlights
All 56 Regional Rural Banks are now enabled

Comprises 19000 branches, 642 Districts
and 120 Million customers
Under PMJDY RRBs opened 21.7 million
A/Cs churning Rs 1600 crore in banks
More than 20 Million RuPay cards issued
RRBs (Regional Rural Banks) customer
spends Rs 3500 on an average on PoS terminals
Providing modern banking facilities in
rural areas RRBs have played a vital role
in making the ambitious Pradhan Mantri
Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme a huge
success with opening of 21.7 million
accounts and augmented deposits of Rs
1,600 crore in banks. More than 20 million
customers have been issued RuPay debit
cards by various RRBs (mostly under
PMJDY scheme) and are performing
successful transactions at ATMs and PoS.
184

As per NPCI research, every second
records one transaction from any RRBs
customer on central payment or NFS
platform. However, the average spend on
PoS is estimated at Rs 3,500.
About NPCI

(NPCI), which has been set up in 2009 as
the central infrastructure for various retail
payment systems in India, was envisaged
by the Reserve Bank of India as the
payment utility for all banks in the country.
During the last five years, the organization
has grown multi-fold from 2 million
transactions a day to 15 million transactions
now. From a single service of switching of
inter-bank ATM transactions, the range of
services have grown to Cheque Clearing,
Immediate Payments Service money
transfer (24x7), Automated Clearing
House, Electronic Benefit Transfer and a
domestic card payment network named
RuPay to provide an alternative to
international card schemes.
IRCTC launches RuPay
Prepaid Debit Card Service
Indian Railway has launched RuPay
prepaid Debit Card service for its customer.
The service was launched by the IRCTC in
collaboration with Union Bank of India and
the National Payment Corporation of India.
RuPay is Indias own card payment
gateway network like Visa and Master
Card, and provides an alternative system
for banks to provide a debit card service.
Cards can be made available from UBI
offices or through IRCTC online. Initially
the service will be available for booking
tickets and later on shopping and bill
payments will be added.
Key Facts
One can have the card with a loading limit
of Rs.10,000 with partial KYC detail or

Rs.50,000 loading limit with full KYC.
The first five transactions per card every
month done on IRCTC for purchase of train
tickets would be free and no transaction
charges would be levied to customers for
six months only. For every subsequent
transaction post the free usage, customer
would be charged Rs.10 per transaction.
The transaction charge would be Rs.10 per
ticket for booking a ticket through the card
on the portal.
SEBI Set Norms to Govern International
Financial Market
The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) approved guidelines to govern
international financial services centres
(IFSC). These guidelines were approved by
SEBI board meeting on 22 March 2015.
The news guidelines relax the norms for
Stock exchanges and clearing corporations
to set up IFSC. It also relaxes norms and
allows existing exchanges to set up their
subsidiaries in the IFSC
Stock exchanges will be set up with Rs. 25
crore capital. This capital is against the
previous normal requirement of 100 crore
rupees. However, this initial capital should
be raised to 100 crore rupees within next 3
years. Such exchanges will also be given 3
years to complete de-mutualisation.
The initial capital requirement will be 50
crore rupees for a clearing corporation,
against the previous norm of Rs. 300 crore.
But it will have to be achieved within 3
years period. IFSC will be established
under the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act
of 2005 and the issue of depository receipts
and other securities by foreign issuers
under the Foreign Currency Depository
Receipts Scheme, 2014, will also be
allowed.
185
Union Government
Approves 17 Mega Food Park
17 new Mega Food Parks (MFPs) has been
sanctioned by the Government with
investment of around Rs. 2330 crores. This
will include grant-in-aid for an amount of
Rs.850 crores. The announcement made by
the Food Processing Minister Smt.
Harsimrat kaur Badal. She said that these
17 new MFPs spread across 11 States would
attract a total investment of around
Rs.4,000 crores and the annual turnover of
the Food Processing units in these MFPs
would be more than Rs.8,000 crores.
About Mega Food Park scheme
To give a major boost to the food processing
sector by adding value and reducing food
wastage and loss at each stage of the supply
chain with particular focus on perishables,
Ministry of Food Processing Industries is
implementing Food Mega Food Parks
Scheme in the country since the year 2008.
Financial Assistance upto Rs. 50.00 Crore
is provided for setting up Mega Food Parks
for creation of modern infrastructure
facilities for food processing along the
value chain from farm to market. A Mega
Food Park located in the area of a minimum
of 50 acres work in a cluster based approach
based on a hub and spokes model.
Infrastructure is created for primary
processing and storage near the farm in the
form of Primary Processing Centres (PPCs),
Collection Centres (CCs) located in
production areas. Common facilities and
enabling infrastructure at Central
Processing Centre like modern
warehousing, cold storage, IQF, sorting,
grading, packaging, pulping, ripening
chambers and tetra packaging units roads,
electricity, water, ETP facilities etc. This
helps in reducing the cost of individual
units significantly and makes them more

viable. Induction of latest technology,
quality assurance of processed food
products through better process control
and meeting of environmental and safety
standards are other major benefits of Mega
Food Parks.
Total 42 Mega Food Parks have been
sanctioned by the Government for settingup in the country. Currently, 25 projects are
under implementation, Expression of
Interest (EoI) was invited on all India basis
on 10.02.2014 with the last date of
31.07.2014 to fill up vacancies. Ministry
received 72 proposals and after going
through a stringent and transparent
process of scrutiny, 17 suitable proposals
from 11 States of the country have been
selected and approved for implementation.
This step of the Government will create
huge modern infrastructure for food
processing sector and provide impetus to
the growth of the sector. These 17 newly
selected Mega Food Parks are likely to
attract investment of around Rs. 2000 crore
in modern infrastructure, additional
collective investment of around Rs. 4000
crore in 500 food processing units in the
Parks and an annual turn-overof Rs. 8000
crore.These Parks,when fully functional,
will create employment for about 80000
persons and benefit about 5 lakh farmers
directly and indirectly.
The timely completion of these Mega Food
Park will provide a big boost to the growth
of the food processing sector in the concerned state, help in providing better price
to farmers, reduce wastage of perishables,
add value to the agricultural produce and
create huge employment opportunities especially in rural areas. These will also help
in stabilizing prices of food products and
contain inflation in the country.
186

Good response for residential properties at
SBIs e-auction
State Bank of India (SBI), successfully
completed the e-auction of around
Rs.1,200-crore worth of stressed assets with
a good number of bids for residential
properties, said a senior official.
The bank had put on auction a mix of
o f f i ce s / s h o p s/ a pa r tm e n t s/ f ac t or y
buildings and others numbering 300
properties.
Mr. Malhotra said the number of hits was
large on the two websites where the
properties were auctioned and the speed
got slowed down.
We had extended the auction time to
compensate for the slow speed, he said.
According to him, the bank had saved
sizable outgo in terms of advertisement
spend for auctioning the stressed assets.
As per the norms, advertisements should
be given in two newspapers for every
property auction but this time, the bank
had consolidated all the properties to be
auctioned and hence saved good sum, he
said.
Agreeing that not all the 300 properties got
sold, he said based on the feedback and the
data collated, the bank would decide on
going for next round of e-auction.
He said the banking major had taken a first
step in this arena and could be the trend
setter for others.
Facebook buys The Find
Facebook has waded further into ecommerce with the acquisition of shopping
search engine TheFind.com. Terms of the
deal were not disclosed.
Members of TheFind team are joining
Facebook, where they plan to put their
technology to work making ads at the
leading social network more relevant,

according to the post.
The acquisition will result in TheFind.com
shutting down in the next few weeks.
Facebook has been playing catch-up
regarding searching for information at the
social network and becoming a middleman of sorts for online commerce.
Together, we believe we can make the
Facebook ads experience even more
relevant and better for consumers, the
social network said in statement.
TheFind Everything you need when
shopping to quickly decide what to buy
and where to buy it will shutter the
Silicon Valley base it has operated from
since launching in 2006 and move team
members to Facebooks campus in Menlo
Park, California.
Britain applies to join Chinese-led Asian
bank
Britain has applied to join a proposed
Chinese-led Asian regional bank that
Washington worries will undercut
institutions
such
as
the
World Bank.
The British Treasury said it will join talks
this month on the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Banks structure and
governance arrangements.
China proposed the bank in 2013 and has
pledged to put up most of its initial $50
billion in capital. Twenty-one other
governments including the Philippines,
Thailand, New Zealand and Vietnam have
said they want to join.
The United States has expressed concern
the bank will allow looser lending
standards for the environment, labour
rights and financial transparency,
undercutting the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund.
187
The British Treasury said it would try to

ensure the Asian bank embodies the best
standards.
Work on GST rollout on track, says
Shaktikanta Das
Mr. Das also said the plan to reduce

corporate tax rates was done to make India
competitive with other ASEAN countries
as an investment destination.
LIC to invest Rs.1.50 lakh crore in Railways
The Narendra Modi government is

working on full throttle to implement the
Goods and Services Tax (GST), a key
indirect tax reform, from April 1, 2016, said
Union Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das.
He also pointed out that several
committees and sub-committees,
comprising Centre and State finance and
taxation officers were working on aspects
such as business processes and reporting
systems. A special purpose vehicle was
working on the IT backbone for the rollout,
he added.
Doubts have been raised about the
implementation timeline. I want to confirm
that work related to implementation is very
much on, Mr. Das said at an interactive
session, organised by the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII).
Mr. Das said all States and political
formations were on board. He was hopeful
that the bill on GST would go through in
the current session of Parliament.
Mr. Das also said that there would not be
much revenue loss due to transition to GST.
Mr. Das said the government had agreed
to compensate States for GST loss for the
first five years on a differing basis. He also
pointed out that the manufacturing States
would lose more than the consumption
States. That was why a one per cent originbased tax had been included with a sunset
clause of two years, he pointed out.
He also said that GST would be tax buoyant
while terming the 42 per cent devolution
of Centres net taxes to the States as a big
bang reform.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India

(LIC) will provide Rs.1.50 lakh crore in the
next five years to the Railways for funding
projects.
The move is in line with Railway Minister
Suresh Prabhus plan to look for funds
outside of budgetary support and tap lowcost long-term funds. The Railways will
need Rs.8.50 lakh crore in the next five
years for various projects.
There would be a five-year moratorium
on interest and loan repayment, and the
rest of the terms would be negotiated while
signing the finance assistance agreement,
a press statement said.
As per the memorandum of understanding
signed between the two parties, the LIC
will make available the funds to the
Railways and its entities from 2015-16.
According to the latest Railway budget, its
total Plan budget is Rs.1 lakh crore for 201516.
RBI issues new norms for sale of bad loans
In a boost to banks, which are facing rising
asset quality issues, the Reserve Bank of
India, allowed such lenders to reverse the
excess provision on sale of bad loans to
their profit and loss account, provided the
transaction took place before February 26,
2014.
The central bank had on the February 3
monetary policy day had said that it would
issue the final guidelines on this front after
banks requested it to include the provision
to those sales took place before February
26, 2014, as well.
188

The move is aimed at incentivising banks
to recover appropriate value in respect of
NPAs (non-performing assets).
Almost all banks, including private sector
players, have been reporting higher NPAs
and lower profits as they have to make
more provisions for bad loans, which
crossed 5.5 per cent as at the end of
December. Together with restructured
loans, the total pain on the system is close
to 12 per cent.
The new guidelines extending the sale
period prior to February, 2014, will help
banks report better numbers and, thus, take
a little pain off their back. From April 1,
banks will have to make full provision 5
per cent of the bad asset if they have
restructured the loan, and the entire
amount if the asset in corporate debt
restructuring (CDR) turns bad.
The apex bank said the new guidelines will
be applicable if only the excess is for a value
higher than the banks net book value
(NBV).
Further, the notification said, The
quantum of excess provision reversed to
profit and loss account will be limited to
the extent to which cash received exceeds
the NBV of the NPAs sold.
It also made it mandatory for banks to
report the quantum of such excess
provision reversed to the profit and loss
account in the financial statements of the
bank under notes to accounts. Bad loans
in public sector banks more than tripled to
about Rs.2.17 lakh crore in three years to
March, 2014.
The move is aimed at incentivizing banks
to recover appropriate value in respect of
NPAs.
IMF raises India growth forecast to 7.2 %
this fiscal
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has

forecast India will grow 7.5 per cent in
2015-16, up from 7.2 per cent in the current
year, a projection less optimistic than that
of the Modi government.
In the Union budget 2015, the government
estimated growth of up to 8.5 per cent in
2015-16.
The Indian economy is the bright spot in
the global landscape, becoming one of the
fastest-growing big emerging market
economies in the world, the IMF said in an
official statement.
The report stressed the urgency of certain
key reforms, including the bottlenecks in
the energy, mining and power sectors;
infrastructure gaps, land acquisition
processes and environmental clearances.
In its annual assessment of the Indian
economy in the mandatory Article IV
annual report, the IMF said that Indias
vulnerabilities have receded more than
those of most emerging markets and
sentiment has been revived.
The Indian economy is reviving, helped
by positive policy actions that have
improved confidence and lower global oil
pricesTo continue on this trend, India
needs to revitalise the investment cycle and
accelerate structural reforms, according to
the statement.
New investment project announcements
have started to pick up, particularly in the
power and transport sectors, said IMF
Mission Chief for India Paul Cashin. He
also noted that bolstering financial sector
health and further financial inclusion
would support growth going forward.
Mr. Cashin said that while India is well
placed to cope with external shocks, there
are possible risks on the horizon, both
external and domestic.
189
These include spillovers from weak global

growth and potential global financial
market volatility that could be disruptive,
including from any unexpected
developments as the United States begins
to raise its interest rates.
On the domestic front, the weaknesses in
corporate balance sheets, especially in light
of the increase in corporate leverage of the
past few years, and worsening bank asset
quality bear watching, as they could weigh
on growth.
The IMF report also said that Indias
economic profile recently got a lift as the
country improved the way it measures
economic output.
The revised national accounts series
incorporates numerous conceptual and
methodological improvements that make
them more consistent with international
best practices, it said adding that the
report itself was prepared before the
revisions were released by the Central
Statistics Office.
Mr. Cashin also gave thumbs up to the
Modi governments recent move to
introduce a flexible inflation-targeting
framework. It will help deliver low and
stable inflation, and diminish the prospect
of renewed bouts of high inflation, he said.
Among the reforms the report
recommended are steps in the agriculture
sector for efficient procurement,
distribution, and storage of food in the
public system. Greater flexibility in labour
markets and improvements in education
for meeting the rising shortages of skilled
labour were among the key reforms
suggested.
RIL heads the list of top 10 asset firms
At the end of 2014, India has 68 billionaires
and occupies the seventh slot in that club
globally.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has come
out with the names of top ten corporates
having assets ranging from Rs.89,000 crore
to Rs.3.68 lakh crore, based on the balance
sheets filed for March 2014.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, released the
list containing eight public sector firms and
two private sector firms (Reliance
Industries and Housing Development
Finance Corp).
RIL occupies the first slot among the
corporates, in terms of assets, with over
Rs.3.68 lakh crore for the year ended March
2014.
The second slot is taken by Indian Oil Corp
with assets of Rs.2.52 lakh crore.
The latest list contains asset details of 4.16
lakh firms valued at Rs.117.08 lakh crore.
The share of top 10 firms, at Rs.17.89 lakh
crore, accounts for 15.3 per cent of the
overall value.
HDFC was in the third slot, followed by
Power Finance Corp, NTPC, Rural
Electrification Corp, Power Grid Corp, LIC
Housing Finance, Steel Authority of India
and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. PFCs
assets stand at Rs.1.94 lakh crore, NTPC at
Rs.1.80 lakh crore, REC at Rs.1.53 lakh
crore, Power Grid at Rs.1.40 lakh crore LIC
Housing Finance at Rs.95,777 crore, SAIL
at Rs.91,962 crore and BSNL at Rs.89,333
crore.
The list contains eight public sector firms
and two private sector firms.
Black money taxable at highest rates

Under the new law on black money, the
offence will be made non-compoundable
and offenders will not be permitted to
approach the Settlement Commission.
Undisclosed incomes or returns from
190
foreign assets will be taxable at the

maximum marginal rate and exemptions
or deductions which may otherwise be
applicable in such cases, shall not be
allowed.
The offence of concealment of income or
evasion of tax in relation to a foreign asset
will be made a predicate offence under the
Prevention of Money- laundering Act, 2002.
This provision would enable the
enforcement agencies to attach and
confiscate unaccounted assets held abroad
and launch prosecution against persons
indulging in laundering of black money,
Revenue Secretary Shaktikanta Das told.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had
said in his budget speech that he would
introduce the law in Parliament during the
current session. Under it, he had said, it
would be mandatory to disclose all
overseas bank accounts and assets to the
tax authorities and concealment of income
or assets held overseas could attract a jail
term of up to 10 years.
The government has also said that ahead
of the laws enforcement, it would provide
a one-time compliance window of a few
months.
Das said the penalty during the compliance
window could be lower than 300 per cent
the rate Mr. Jaitley had said in his budget
speech would apply to the concealment of
income and assets overseas under the new
law.
Govt working to wrest Khadi trademark

from German firm
Government is working in tandem with the
Khadi and Village Industries Commission
(KVIC) to expedite the process of deregistering Khadi trademark in the
European Union by a German company,
Parliament was informed .
KVIC has also initiated the process to

register Khadi trademark in India and
internationally.
The German company, named Khadi
Natureprodukte GbR, has registered
Khadi as a trademark with the European
agency, OHIM (Office for Harmonisation
in the Internal Market).
Spain-based OHIM is the nodal agency for
Trademarks and Design Registration in the
European Union.
Indian Embassies abroad have been in
touch with the authorities of European
Union for cancellation of the registration
of Khadi as a trademark, Micro Small and
Medium Enterprises Minister of State
Giriraj Singh informed the Lok Sabha in a
written reply.
The government, KVIC and the Indian
Embassies are working in tandem to
expedite the process of de-registering the
trademark of Khadi, he added.
Singh said the process to register for
international trademarks for Khadi is
being done in two stages first at national
level and second at international level.
He added that KVIC has filed an
application to register Khadi as a word
mark under IPR Authority in Mumbai.
This mark has been filed for 27 classes
under IPR Act covering various products
relevant to KVIC comprising of Khadi
fabrics and village industries, Singh said.
Online registration for Khadi as a Word
mark has already been done and
application for International IPR under
Madrid Protocol has been filed for the US,
European Union and Russia and China, he
added.
KVIC is a statutory body engaged in
promoting and developing khadi and
village industries.
191
Shiv Nadar Foundation sells shares in HCL

Technologies
The Shiv Nadar Foundation, a
philanthropic arm of Shiv Nadar, Founder
and Chairman of HCL, sold its entire stake
in HCL Technologies for Rs.1,109 crore in
the open market.
The proceeds are expected to be used for
various objectives and initiatives of the
foundation.
Established in 1994, the Shiv Nadar
Foundation supports education and art. It
runs institutions such as Shiv Nadar
University, Shiv Nadar School and Kiran
Nadar Museum of Art, among others.
Mr. Nadar has so far committed around
Rs.6,000 crore from his wealth to
philanthropy. The foundation has already
spent around Rs.3,000 crore on
philanthropic initiatives until March 31,
2014.
Under the initiative, Mr. Nadar wants to
build prestigious educational institutions
and improve the lot of the underprivileged
by tackling critical parameters. He is also
looking for a one-size-fits-all model to
solve Indias basic problems of water,
education, employability, health and
infrastructure.
According to bulk deal data on Bombay
Stock Exchange, 56 lakh shares (0.8 per cent
stake) were sold at Rs.1,980.18 a share, at a
discount to the firms closing price of Rs.
2,064.75 on Thursday last.
This transaction has been concluded at
one go at a discount to the last closing price
of HCL Technologies share to avoid any
overhang in the market for shareholders of
HCL Technologies, Shiv Nadar
Foundation said in a statement.
The Foundation said the sale was done to
fulfil the governance, tax and legal
regulations that required it to the sell the

shares before March 31, 2015. It had
previously sold HCL Technologies shares
in February 2012.
After the transaction was announced, HCL
Technologies shares declined to days low
of Rs. 1,975. However, it recovered and
closed flat at Rs. 2067.35 on the BSE.
Industrialist Deepak Khaitan passes away
City based industrialist Deepak Khaitan
(60), passed away after a prolonged spell
of illness. He was 60 and is survived by his
wife, son and daughter.
He was the eldest son of B.M. Khaitan and
had in his fold major companies like
Eveready Industries, Mcnally Bharat and
Kilburn Engineering. He is perhaps best
known for the acquisition of the Eveready
brand from the Union Carbide.
The turnover of the group is around Rs.
6,000 crores.
News Corp acquires VCCircle Network
The Rupert Murdoch-led firm has signed
a definitive agreement to acquire media
firm VCCircle Network for an undisclosed
sum.
Rupert Murdoch-led News Corp has
signed a definitive agreement to acquire
media firm VCCircle Network for an
undisclosed sum.
This is the third investment by News Corp
in India.
Previously, it had invested in financial
advisory start-up firm BigDecisions.com
and realty portal PropTiger.com.
In a statement, News Corp said it has
signed a definitive agreement to acquire
VCCircle Network, which includes
VCCircle.com, Techcircle.in, VCCEdge,
VCCircle Training, in addition to a
premium-content driven conference
192
business.
Terms of the acquisition, which is expected
to close by March, were not disclosed.
Commenting on the announcement, News
Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson
said: India is an increasingly meaningful
part of our portfolio, which is itself
increasingly digital and global.
VCCircle Network is owned by Mosaic
Media Ventures and has about 100
employees across India, with its
h e a d q u a r t e r s
in Noida.
VCCircle Network Founder and CEO P V
Sahad and the management group will
become part of News Corps India team.
Sahad will report to News Corp Senior Vice
President (Strategy) Raju Narisetti, the
statement said.
In November 2014, News Corp had
acquired 25 per cent stake in Indian realty
portal PropTiger.com for USD 30 million
(Rs 185 crore) as part of its strategy to
expand presence in digital media.
It had picked up stake in Singapore-based
Elara Technologies Pte Ltd, the parent firm
of PropTiger.com.
In the following month, News Corp
announced
acquisition
of
BigDecisions.com for an undisclosed sum.
The portal was set up by Manish Shah and
Gaurav Roy in early 2013.
Walmart India appoints Ashwin Mittal as

CFO
Walmart India announced Ashwin Mittal
as the new Chief Financial Officer and
Javier Rojo as Head of Real Estate and
Business Development. Mr. Mittal will
replace Jill Anderson, the present CFO, the
company statement said.
Apple to join
Dow blue-chip index
U.S. tech giant Apple will join the blue-chip
Dow Jones Industrial Index later this
month, replacing telecom company AT&T,
S&P Dow Jones Indices announced.
The inclusion of the iPhone and iPad maker
in the elite list of 30 top companies comes
long after Apple had become the biggest
U.S. company by market capitalisation,
now with a value of more than $730 billion.
The change will take effect March 19, S&P
Dow Jones said.
No tax on premature withdrawal of private
PF below Rs. 30,000
Members of private provident fund trusts
need not have to pay tax on premature
withdrawals if the amount is either less
than Rs. 30,000 or their tax liability is nil
even after including the withdrawn sum to
their income.
A proposal to this effect is contained the
Budget 2015-16. As per existing provisions
in respect of such premature withdrawal,
the trustees of the recognised provident
funds (trusts) shall deduct tax as computed
at the time of payment.
Under the existing EPF & MP Act (Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous
Provisions Act), withdrawal shall be taxable if the employee makes withdrawal
before continuous service of five years
(other than the cases of termination due to
ill health, closure of business, etc) and does
not opt for transfer of balance to new employer.
It is proposed to insert a new provision in
the Act for deduction of tax at the rate of
10 per cent on premature withdrawal from
Employees Provident Fund Scheme (EPFS).
193

of level 111 and submit compliance report
latest by March 10, TRAI said.
NPCI links 15 cr bank accounts with

Aadhaar
(NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all
retail payments system in India, said that
it reached a major milestone of successfully
linking 15 crore bank accounts with
Aadhaar number.
Beneficiaries of all types of government
subsidies /benefit transfers are expected to
be brought under the linkage programme
very soon.
The current focus is on linking the bank
accounts of 17 crore DBTL (direct benefit
transfer for LPG) beneficiaries with
Aadhaar numbers, latest by June 30, 2015,
NPCI stated in a release.
TRAI asks Vodafone to stop using 111
service
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) directed Vodafone to stop using
111 for offering customer care services, as
it violates the national numbering plan, and
submit a compliance report by March 10.
In a direction to Vodafone, TRAI said that
the Department of Telecom had issued the
national numbering plan 2003, wherein the
number 111 to 115 have not been allocated
for any type of services and have been kept
as spare
However, the authority said it observed
from the advertisement on the website of
Vodafone that customers were being urged
to call 111 to get Internet settings on their
handset for pre-paid data offers, post-paid
3G data packs, self help for data services,
Blackberry Internet offers and to find out
the balance.
Now therefore, in exercise of the powers
conferred upon it... the authority hereby
directs Vodafone India to discontinue use
Financial sector set on a path towards

innovation
The budget outlines several much-needed
measures for development of the financial
sector.
The three notable aspects are the focus on
innovation, steps towards structural
strengthening, and move to develop
various segments of the financial sector.
Other key highlights include steps to
channelise savings from physical assets to
financial ones, enhance financial inclusion,
and remove constraints for foreign
investors.
Some more, though, was expected for debt
markets and public sector banks.
Budget laid a clear emphasis on enhancing
innovation in the financial sector. Proposal
to set-up Micro Units Development and
Refinance Agency (MUDRA Bank) will
enable microfinance institutions to lend to
individual-run micro-enterprises.
Clarity and rationalisation of taxation rules
for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
and Infrastructure Investment Trusts
(InvITs) will pave the way for these new
vehicles to be introduced during the year.
This will benefit real estate players having
lease-generating commercial assets and
infrastructure developers with operating
projects.
The plan to set-up the National Investment
and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) for taking
equity in infrastructure projects will
catalyse the infrastructure investments.
With the approval for Gujarat International
Finance Tec-City (GIFT), India will take
baby steps towards developing as a global
financial centre.
194

Finally, the planned Trade Receivables
Discounting System (TReDS) will help
SMEs to reduce their working capital cycle.
Once implemented, these innovations have
a potential to significantly develop the
Indian financial sector to support multiple
stakeholders and industries.
On the structural side, to strengthen the
sector, the Finance Minister has announced
reforms in the bankruptcy law, which will
effectively address the non-performing
assets challenge for banks in the long term.
Allowing large non-banking finance
companies (NBFCs) to use the SARFAESI
Act will significantly augment their
recovery efforts.
The proposed merger of Securities and
Exchange board of India (SEBI) and
Forward Markets Commission (FMC) will
ensure better regulatory supervision of
financial markets that are becoming
increasingly complex.
The establishment of a Bank Boards Bureau
to select heads of government-owned PSU
banks and drive their capital management
strategies will also strengthen the sector.
Finally, path towards a bank holding
company over the medium term will
enhance governance practices and allow
better visibility of capital for public sector
banks.
Another notable push has been given to the
alternate asset management, insurance,
pension, and asset management sectors.
Alternate Investment Funds have been
made pass-through from an income tax
perspective and foreign investment has
also been allowed.
This has the potential to significantly
increase the flow of funds to real estate,
start-ups and early stage companies and
infrastructure
projects
through
professionally managed specialised
structure.
Given the large investment needs, the bond
markets and banking sector are expected
to play a critical role in providing the
necessary debt funding. In this context,
greater attention on steps to develop the
bond markets would have complemented
the investments push of the budget.
Similarly, a higher capital allocation for
public sector banks would have prepared
them well for growth, as well as to meet
their current challenges.
Full electrification by 2022
Giving a major boost to the governments
plans to make India energy surplus by 2019
and to provide electricity to each household
by 2022, the government proposed five new
Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs), each
of 4,000 MW which will come up in the
plug-and-play mode enabling investors to
start these plants without much delay.
Out of the 4 UMPPs announced earlier, two
(Mundra and Sasan) are operational now.
Presenting the Union budget, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley said all clearances
and linkages would be in place for these
five new UMPPs before the projects are
awarded through a transparent auction
system.
He also said the second unit of
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station would
be commissioned in 2015-2016. Apart from
this the budget has also made several
provisions for the growth of Renewable
Energy sector in the country.
By 2022, the government announced plans
to have 1,75,000 MW of renewable energy
generation (100000 MW solar, 60,000 wind
and 15,000 MW other technology). Solar
energy will get the biggest in capacity from
3,500 MW now to 1,00,000 in 7 years.
According to experts the governments in-
195
tention to drive new investment in power

generation is a welcome and necessary
move, but to continue to attract investors,
the government must revive the distribution sector.
The government has decided to increase
clean energy cess on coal from Rs 100/
tonnes to Rs 200/tonnes which will help
mobilise funds for clean energy initiates.
Changes in corporate tax regime to reduce

disputes: Jaitley
The proposal to correct the corporate tax
regime by lowering the tax rate and
removing the exemptions will lead to
higher level of investment, higher growth
and more jobs, Union Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said in his budget speech in
Parliament.
The proposed changes, he said, would
come into effect from the next financial
year.
At 30 per cent, the basic rate of corporate
tax in India is higher, he argued, than the
rates prevalent in the other major Asian
economies, making the domestic industry
uncompetitive. Still, the effective collection
is just about 23 per cent, the Finance
Minister said.
Further, the regime of exemptions has led
to pressure groups, litigation and loss of
revenue and it also gives room for
avoidable discretion, he said.
In the Budget, the Finance Ministry has
estimates that the revenue collected under
corporate tax will go up marginally during
2015-16 to Rs. 4,70,628 crore against Rs.
4,26,079 crore during the current year.
Nirbhaya fund
Gets Rs. 1,000 crore
The 2015-16 budget pledged a top-up of
Rs.1,000 crore to the already existing
Nirbhaya Fund for ensuring safety of
women, while slashing the allocation to the

women and child ministry by over half.
The Women and Child Development
Ministry received Rs. 21,193 crore in last
years budget, an improvement over the RS.
18,584 crore in 2013-14 .
This year however, in his second outing,
Mr. Jaitley slashed it to Rs.10,351 crore,
while earmarking Rs.79,258 crore for
ongoing schemes related to welfare of
women.
The Nirbhaya fund, set up by the UPA
government in the aftermath of the
December 16 Delhi gangrape, has made
more news for being alarmingly
underutilised than for making any
significant improvement to womens
safety.
Besides monetary allocations, Mr. Jaitley
spelled out a moderate push for small
savings for educating the girl child under
the Sukanya Samriddhi initiative.
The government had adopted gender
budgeting (or gender-responsive
budgeting) in 2005 to help advance gender
equality through comprehensive and
integrated planning by several government
departments.
4-D solution for banking industry

The Economic Survey 2014-15 has
proposed a 4-D prescription to the Indian
banking sector, which is hobbled by policy
constraints, which create double financial
repression, and, by structural factors,
impede competition.
The four Ds include:
De-regulation (addressing the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and priority sector lending (PSL)),
Differentiation (within the public sector
banks in relation to recapitalisation, shrinking balance sheets, and ownership),
196

Diversification (of source of funding within
and outside banking), and Disinterring (by
improving exit mechanisms).
Highlights of Union Budget 2015
FMs Budget speech dwelt on agriculture,
public investments in infrastructure,
manufacturing and social sector spending.
States to be equal partners in economic
growth; move to making India cashless
society; social sector programmes to
continue.
Some of the challenges mentioned by the
Finance Minister are: poor agricultural
income, decline in manufacturing ; and the
need for fiscal discipline.
Here are sector-wise highlights:
TAXATION
1 Abolition of Wealth Tax.

2 Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich
with income of over Rs. 1 crore.
3. Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25%
over next four years.
4. Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can
be achieved.
5. 100% exemption for contribution to
Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.
6. Service tax increased to14 per cent.
AGRICULTURE
1. Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure

Development Bank.
2. Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation
Programme.
3. Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.
INFRASTRUCTURE
1. Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.

2. Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and
irrigation
3. PPP model for infrastructure development
to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority
of the risk.
4. Rs. 150 crore allocated for Research &

Development
5. NITI to be established and involvement of
entrepreneurs, researchers to foster
scientific innovations.
6. Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra mega
power projects, each of 4000MW.
EDUCATION
1. AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab,

Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and
Assam.
2. IIT in Karnataka; Indian Institute of Mines
in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
3. PG institute of Horticulture in Armtisar.
4. Kerala to have University of Disability
Studies
5. Centre of film production, animation and
gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
6. IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra
Pradesh.
DEFENCE
1. Rs. 2,46,726 crore for Defence.

2. Focus on Make in India for quick
manufacturing of Defence equipment.
WELFARE SCHEMES
1. 50,000 toilets constructed under Swachh

Bharath Abhiyan.
2. Two other programmes to be introducedGST & JAM Trinity. GST will be
implemented by April 2016.
3. MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance
orgs. to encourage first generation SC/ST
entrepreneurs.
4. Housing for all by 2020.
5. Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.
6. DBT will be further be expanded from 1
crore to 10.3 crore.
7. For the Atal Pension Yojna, govt. will
contribute 50% of the premium limited to
Rs. 1000 a year.
197
8. New scheme for physical aids and assisted

living devices for people aged over 80 .
9. Govt to use Rs. 9000 crore unclaimed funds
in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.
10. Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for
MGNREGA.
11. Govt. to create universal social security
system for all Indians.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
1. Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.

2. Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K
MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW
in biomass and 5K MW in small hydro
TOURISM
1. Develpoment schemes for churches and

convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta
caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh palace,
Varanasi , Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi
tombs at Hyderabad to be under the new
toursim scheme.
2. Visa on Arrival for 150 countries.
Securities Transaction Tax
It is a tax on all transactions done over the stock

exchanges involving securities such as shares,
derivatives, and equity-linked mutual funds.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI)
It is a measure of inflation, or price change,

arrived at after regularly measuring the prices of a
slew of wholesale goods.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
It is a measure of inflation, or price change,

arrived at after regularly measuring the prices of a
slew of household goods and services.
Capital Gains Tax
It is a tax on the gains that ensue when an asset

is sold for a price higher than what it was bought for.
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
It is a tax on the value added to a product at

each stage of distribution, so that inputs that go into
making the product arent taxed more than once.
Ad Valorem Tax
This is charged as a percentage of the value of a

good or service, not at a specific rate per unit.
Advance Pricing Agreement (APA)
Budget 2015 : Glossary of terms used in

Budget
Here is a ready reckoner for some of these terms.
It is an agreement between a taxpaying entity

and the taxman that indicates how the former will
price transactions with its associates.
Disinvestment Receipts
Fiscal Policy
The term refers to the money raised by the

Government through disinvestment, or the sale of its
equity stake in companies it owns.
It is what a Government does to influence the

course of an economy through decisions on taxes and
spending.
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act
Monetary Policy
The Act is an attempt to make the Government

adhere to a phased plan to reduce fiscal deficit, which
denotes an excess of expenditure over revenue.
It is what a central bank does to influence the

course of an economy through decisions on money
supply and interest rate.
Dividend Distribution Tax
Direct Tax
This is a tax levied on companies that pay out

dividends to its shareholders, i.e. share a portion of
earnings with them.
A tax such as the income-tax, which has to be

borne by the person it or entity it is imposed on.
Venture Capital Funds
A tax on goods and services, typically, levied

on an entity but paid by another.
These are funds that invest in startups, a

financially riskier proposition than investing in
established companies.
Indirect Tax
Direct Taxes Code (DTC)
Indias likely replacement to the long-standing
198

Income Tax Act, the Direct Taxes Code is meant to
make direct tax laws simpler and more efficient.
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Proposed to be rolled out in India from April 1,

2016, the GST seeks to make the indirect tax structure
simpler and efficient by replacing a slew of levies
such as octroi, central sales tax, State sales tax, entry
tax and so on.
External Commercial Borrowing (ECB)
ECBs refer to commercial loans with a minimum

three-year maturity that can be raised from lenders
from overseas where interest rates are lower than in
India.
Fiscal Consolidation
The term refers to the things a Government does
to maintain good fiscal health cut debt and
wasteful expenditure and improve revenue
opportunities.
Current Account Deficit
It is a trade measure that shows the value of a

countrys imports of goods and services to be higher
than the value of its exports.
White Paper outlines challenges of Railways
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu tabled a
white paper before presenting the budget .
The paper delineates the challenges before
the Railways how it is perched on a
precipice but is capable of flying off and
attaining great heights.
A plan for the railways of tomorrow has
been outlined.
The organisation has suffered from considerable under-investment during the last
several years, said Railway Minister Mr.
Prabhu in the paper. As a consequence,
capacity augmentation has suffered and so
has the quality of service.
Resources have been insufficient for
improving customer satisfaction and
introducing technological improvements.
Investments in safety have also been
insufficient.
The status paper is the first in a series of

three documents.
The budget, being the second, lays down a
five-year action plan of the Ministry in
bringing about a turnaround.
Finally, during the course of the current
year, Indian Railways will bring out a Vision 2030 document which will contain a
blueprint of the long-term development.
Prabhu proposed a paradigm change with
faster trains, swanky stations and skilled
staff and flagged areas in need of urgent
attention such as cleanliness, punctuality
of services, safety, terminal quality, capacity of trains, food quality, passenger security and ease of booking tickets.
The five-year plan is to undertake measures
to ensure delivering safe and punctual services, increasing average speed by 50 per
cent and increasing loading to 1.5 billion
tonnes.
Highlights of Railway Budget 2015
The key themes of the Budget were in line with
Prime Minister Narendra Modis initiatives Swachch Bharat Mission, Make in India and Digital
India.
The most-expected part about this years
Railway Budget - there is no increase in
passsenger rail fares.
Rs.8.5 lakh crore will be invested in
Railways in next 5 years.
Operation 5 mins, wherein passengers
travellling unreserved can purchase a ticket
in 5 minutes.
Bio toilets and airplane-type vaccum toilets
in trains.
Surveillance cameras in select coaches and
ladies compartments for womens safety
without compromising on privacy.
Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in
advance.
Speed on nine railway corridors to go up
199
to 200 km per hour.

Wi-Fi in more stations, mobile phone
charging facilities in all train
compartments.
Facility of online booking of wheelchair for
senior citizens.
Satellite railway terminals in major cities.
Centrally managed Rail Display Network
is expected to be introduced in over 2K stations over the next 2 years.
All india 24/7 helpline - 138 from March
2015 ; Toll free No.182 for security.
917 road under-bridges and over-bridges
to be constructed to replace 3,438 railway
crossings; at a cost of Rs. 6,581 crore.
Four Railway Research Centres to start in
four universities.
Details about new trains and increased frequency will be announced later in this session of Parliament after review.
What is the investment plan?
The Railway Budget envisages an

investment of Rs. 8.5 lakh crore in next five
years.
How is it going to be mobilized?
The Minister suggested that the money

could be raised from multiple sources from multilateral development banks to
pension funds.
What is the action plan in the sphere fund raising?
Go in for partnership with key stakeholders

- States, PSUs, partner with multilateral and
bi-lateral organizations other governments
to gain access to long-term financing. Also,
get technology from overseas. The private
sector could be roped in to improve lastmile connectivity, expand fleet of rolling
stock and modernize station infrastructure.
What is the thrust?
The thrust will be on revamping

management practices, systems, processes,
and re-tooling of human resources.
What is the proposal on capacity augmentation?
De-congesting networks with basket of

traffic-generating projects will be the
priority
Priority to last-mile connectivity projects
Fast-track sanctioned works on 7,000 kms
of double/third/fourth lines
Commissioning 1200 km in 2015-16 at an
investment of Rs. 8,686 crore, 84% higher
Y-O-Y.
Commissioning 800 km of gauge
conversion targeted in current fiscal.
77 projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/
tripling/quadrupling works along with
electrification, covering almost all States,
at a cost of Rs. 96,182 crore, which is over
2700% higher in terms of amount
sanctioned.
Traffic facility work is a top priority with
an outlay of Rs. 2374 crore .
Award of 750 km of civil contracts and 1300
km of system contracts in 2015-16 on
Dedicated
Freight Corridor (DFC); 55 km section of
Eastern DFC to be completed in the current
year.
Preliminary engineering-cum-traffic
survey (PETS) for four other DFCs in
progress.
Acceleration of pace of Railway
electrification: 6,608 route kilometers
sanctioned for 2015-16, an increase of
1330% over the previous year.
SEBI slaps
Rs.86 cr penalty on DLF
(SEBI), penalised the real estate major, DLF,
and other connected entities by levying a
penalty of Rs.86 crore for violating capital
market regulations by engaging in
fraudulent and unfair trade practices.
200

SEBI penalised DLF Rs.26 crore and other
top officials including, K.P. Singh, Rajiv
Singh and Pia Singh, another Rs.26 crore.
Further, SEBI fined another related 35
entities, including individuals, Rs.34 crore.
The case is pertaining to the irregularities
and non-disclosure violations related to its
2007 initial public offering (IPO).
DLF said it did not violate any law and it
will challenge the SEBI order. DLF further
said that the company and its board were
guided by and acted on the advise of
eminent legal advisors, merchant bankers
and audit firms while formulating its IPO
documents. We are presently reviewing
the said orders and after taking appropriate
legal advice, we will challenge the said
Orders in appeal, DLF said in a statement.
Cabinet approves agreement on BRICS
development bank
The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, gave approval for
establishing the New Development Bank
(NDB) and the BRICS Contingent Reserve
Arrangement (CRA).
Heads of the five nation BRICS group
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa decided at their sixth summit in
Fortaleza in July last year to create a
development bank as well as a reserve fund
to finance infrastructure projects and other
sustainable development projects.
The $100 billion BRICS CRA would help
countries deal with short-term liquidity
pressures, provide mutual support and
further strengthen financial stability.
The agreement will enter into force and the
Bank begin operations only after all
member-countries
deposit
their
instruments of ratification with Brazil.
The release added that signing of the
agreement for the establishment of the New
Development Bank was expected to allow

India to raise and obtain more resources
for the much-needed infrastructure
development, the lack of which was
coming in the way of inclusiveness and
growth.
Besides, the governance structure and
decision-making in the Bank would be
equitable unlike the existing multilateral
development banks, it added.
India will hold the Presidency of the New
Development Bank for the first six years.
The Bank will be based in Shanghai,
Chinas financial hub.
CommonFloor
launches new solution
Online real estate platform CommonFloor
launched its virtual reality application
CommonFloor Retina.
The application, available for customers
using Android platforms, will allows
buyers to view and assess builder
properties.
According to a press release, the solution
offers real property experience for the
seekers allowing them to view or review
and assess multiple properties from
anywhere at any point of time.
At present, the feature is only available on
Android phones like Nexus 4, MotoG 2nd
Gen, Samsung Galaxy 4, MotoX, One Plus
and Xiaomi Mi3.
Industrialist Bhadrashyam Kothari passes
away
Mr. Bhadrashyam Kothari, prominent
industrialist and Chairman and Managing
Director, Kothari Sugars and Chemicals,
died at Houston, in the U.S., after a brief
illness. His passing was peaceful,
surrounded by his family members. He
was 53.
201
As an industrialist, he brought to bear a

visionary leadership to his group and
displayed a pioneering spirit in venturing
into new areas opened up by the economic
reforms. He was also deeply involved in
philanthropy and the promotion of
education.
crore or more, the new norms would be

mandatory from April 1, 2016. In a
notification, the Corporate Affairs Ministry
said the Companies (Ind AS) Rules 2015
would come into force with effect from
April 1. Last month, the ministry had
announced the Ind AS roadmap.
Videocon launches Wi-Fi enabled ACs
Rajan warns
against Appellate Raj
In a veiled attack on suggestions made by
the government-appointed Financial Sector
Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC)
panel for overhaul of financial sector laws,
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram
Rajan, said the country should not end up
in Appellate Raj after escaping the
License Permit Raj.
The comments assume significance in the
wake of the high-profile FSLRC having
suggested creating a single appellate
authority for all financial sector watchdogs,
including the RBI.
The proposal, which was aimed at
providing checks and balances for
decisions made by the regulators, has been
hanging fire for a long time due to
opposition from various quarters,
including the RBI.
New accounting
standard rules notified
Moving closer to the implementation of
new accounting norms, the government
has notified the rules for the Indian
Accounting Standards (Ind AS), which will
be mandatory for companies from April 1,
2016.
Ind AS norms, which are converged with
global standards IFRS, can be followed by
corporates on a voluntary basis from April
1, this year.
For companies having net worth of Rs.500
Consumer electronics major Videocon Industries, unveiled a range of Wi-Fi enabled

ACs to expand its presence in the highly
competitive domestic air-conditioner (AC)
market.
The new Wi-Fi AC can be controlled from
anywhere in the world through an app on
a smartphone.
It uses the Wi-Fi network at the consumers
home to connect with a smartphone and
receives signals on any 2G, 3G and 4G devices.
The company, launched four new split ACs
from 1-1.5 tonnes belonging to the Wi-Fi
series. These are priced between Rs.35,990
and Rs.41,990.
The focus markets for the range are Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and
Delhi. The range is to be launched nationwide in the next few days.
Godrej Properties joins hands with
Snapdeal
Realty firm Godrej Properties said it has
tied up with Snapdeal to offer online
booking of its real estate projects.
Godrej Properties already offers online
booking through its website and has added
this additional sales channel to further
enhance customer access, the company
said.
The tie-up with Snapdeal will offer
customers increased flexibility and unique
offers at the time of booking, it added.
202

Snapdeal buys fashion
portal Exclusively.com
Expanding its presence in the high-end
fashion segment, online marketplace
Snapdeal has acquired luxury fashion
portal Exclusively.com for an undisclosed
amount.
With this acquisition, the city-based firm
that gets a little over $1 billion in gross
merchandise value (GMV) from its fashion
business expects this figure to touch $2
billion by the end of the current calendar
year.
Hyundai launches new Verna
Hyundai Motor India, launched the
updated version of its mid-size sedan
Verna, priced between Rs.7.74 lakh and
Rs.12.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The new Verna that will compete with
Honda City and Maruti Ciaz, will be
available in both petrol and diesel options
and have ten variants.
For the April 2014-January 2015 period this
fiscal, Honda City sold 61,102 units, while
Maruti Ciaz, which was launched in
October last year, sold 23,490 units till
January.
Aero India 2015 to focus on Make in India
Aero India 2015 will be inaugurated by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at
Bengaluru on February 18, with the theme
squarely focused on Make in India in
aerospace, defence, civil aviation and
airport infrastructure in line with the
governments mantra.
We want to set Make in India as the
major theme of the exhibition and see it
progress in the defence sector also,
Defence Production Secretary G. Mohan
Kumar said.
A global CEOs conference will be chaired
by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.

Around 300 CEOs from Indian and foreign
companies are expected to attend the
conference.
SEBI plans profiling of major investors to
boost surveillance
To strengthen its surveillance activities,
capital markets watchdog Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is planning
to conduct profiling of major investors in
different segments of the market to
understand their trading patterns and the
impact on the market.
This follows SEBI having put in place
mechanisms for risk profiling of the brokers
and listed companies so as to understand
the associated risk.
This has become more important in cases
of algorithmic or high-frequency trades, as
the impact of the trading activities of major
investors or traders could be quite big and
really fast, requiring a very robust
surveillance system, he added.
To help it better regulate the marketplace
and strengthen its surveillance system,
SEBI has adopted a supervision model
based on risk levels for various market
entities including brokers and mutual
funds.
Under the new model, various market
entities are being divided into four groups
very low risk, low risk, medium risk and
high risk and the quantum of
surveillance and number of inspections
increase as per the risk level.
This new supervision regime has been put
in place as per recommendations of an independent global consultant and the subsequent suggestions made by an internal
task force at SEBI, while taking into account
practices followed by many overseas regulators.
203
The move would help the existing surveillance system take care of most of the
smaller offences, so that the investigation
resources are utilised more effectively to
tackle serious violations in the market
place.
Mallya resigns from Mangalore Chemicals
Board (MCFL)
In a surprise move the UB Group Chairman
Vijay Mallya has resigned from the Board
of Directors of Mangalore Chemicals and
Fertilizers Ltd (MCFL) with immediate
effect.
What prompted this move is still not
known. The company has intimated this
development to the stock exchanges. Soon
after the announcement MCFL stock prices
rose sharply on the stock markets.
The prices moved from Rs. 80 range to
around Rs. 92. The volume was as high as
nine lakh shares in early morning trade.
MCFL is amidst a takeover battle between
Deepak Petrochemicals and Fertilizers and
Zuari Agro Chemicals and Fertilizers. Mr.
Mallya had sided with Zuari to ward off
the takeover bid of Deepak Fertilizers.
Recently, Deepaks bid to acquire 26 per
cent addition stake had failed and Dr
Mallya had retained control over the
company.
Currently Deepak holds 32 per cent stake
in the company, Zuari 16 per cent, UB
Group 22 per cent and the rest by public
shareholders.
Nifty touches record high
A benchmark index of Indian equities

markets was trading 208.40 points or 0.73
percent up as fast moving consumer goods
(FMCG) stocks surged.
All the sectors were trading in green and
good buying was observed in FMCG,
banking and healthcare sectors.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the

S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which
opened at 28,616.93 points, was trading at
28,651.11 points (at 09.27 a.m.) in the early
session, up 208.40 points or 0.73 percent
from the previous days close at 28,442.71
points.
The Sensex has touched a high of 28,808.78
points and a low of 28,587.75 points in the
trade so far.
The S&P FMCG index gained by 200.87
points, bankex went up by 105.17 points
and healthcare index moved up by 67.73
points.
Reliance Industries signs agreement with
Mexican company for oil and gas
Reliance Industries has signed an
agreement with Mexican state-owned
company, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX)
for cooperation in upstream oil and gas
production as well as in refining business.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) RIL will cooperate with PEMEX for
assessment of potential upstream oil and
gas business opportunities in Mexico and
jointly evaluate value added opportunities
in international markets, a company
statement said.
RIL and PEMEX will also share expertise
and skills in the relevant areas of oil and
gas industry, including for deepwater oil
and gas exploration and production.
The MoU envisages sharing of RILs
pioneering expertise in deep-water
development and best practices in East
Coast of India and RILs experience in shale
gas in United States, it said.
RIL will also provide technical support and
share experience with PEMEX for refining
value maximisation and other technical
optimisation strategies.
204

RILs cooperation with PEMEX is in line
with its growth strategy to explore
opportunities to expand its international
asset base in regimes having internationally
attractive competitive terms.
The company hopes to leverage its
organisational capabilities and expertise to
create long-term value for Exploration and
Production Business and for RIL on the
whole, it added.
Govt. relaxed FDI policy for investors in
construction sector
To help attract foreign funds in
construction of townships, hospitals and
hotels, the government relaxed the FDI
policy for this sector by easing exit norms
and reducing built-up area and capital
needs.
The revised norms relating to construction
development sector has been notified by
the Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP). India allows 100 per
cent FDI in the sector through the automatic
route.
The new policy has done away with the
three-year lock-in period for repatriation of
investment.
The investor will be permitted to exit on
completion of the project or after
development of trunk infrastructure, that
is, roads, water supply, street lighting,
drainage and sewerage, a DIPP circular
said.
It is to be noted here, the official statement
issued after the October 29 Cabinet meeting
had mentioned that the investor can exit
on completion of the project or after three
years from the date of final investment,
subject to development of trunk
infrastructure.
Under the new policy, the minimum floor
area requirement has been reduced to
20,000 square metres from 50,000 square

metres earlier.
It also brought down the minimum capital
requirement to $5 million from $10 million.
In case of development of serviced plots,
the condition of minimum land of 10
hectares has been completely removed.
RBI comfortable on Current Account Deficit:
Khan
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy
Governor H.R. Khan said that the central
bank is reasonably comfortable with the
present Current Account Deficit (CAD)
position of the country.
The central bank is reasonably
comfortable from the current account point
of view because of prices of oil, which is
hovering at five-year lows, said Mr. Khan
while talking to reporters on the sidelines
of National Payments Excellence Awards
2014 function here.
The Government recently scrapped the
80:20 rule on gold imports, mandating
traders to export 20 per cent of all gold
imported into the country. He said that a
view has been taken in this regard after
considering the CAD position into account.
Mr. Khan also said that the RBI is having
concerns on e-commerce transactions and
would issue guidelines to regulate these
transactions.
(NPCI), the umbrella organization for all
retail payments system in the country, has
institutionalized National Payments
Excellence Awards 2014 to recognize
outstanding achievements in operating
various payment systems.
RBI keeps policy rates unchanged
As is widely expected, the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has kept the key policy rates
205
unchanged.
On the basis of an assessment of the current
and evolving macro-economic situation,
the RBI has decided to keep the policy repo
rate under the liquidity adjustment facility
(LAF) unchanged at 8.0 per cent.
It has also kept the cash reserve ratio (CRR)
of scheduled banks unchanged at 4.0 per
cent of net demand and time liabilities
(NDTL). And, it has said that it will
continue to provide liquidity under
overnight repos at 0.25 per cent of bankwise NDTL at the LAF repo rate, and
liquidity under 7-day and 14-day term
repos of up to 0.75 per cent of NDTL of the
banking system through auctions. Also, it
has decided to continue with daily one-day
term repos and reverse repos to smooth
liquidity.
As a result of these decisions, the reverse
repo rate under the LAF will remain
unchanged at 7.0 per cent, and the marginal
standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank
rate at 9.0 per cent
The headline inflation has been receding
steadily, and current readings are below
the January 2015 target of 8 per cent as well
as the January 2016 target of 6 per cent,
the RBI said. The inflation reading for
November, which will become available by
mid-December, is expected to show a
further softening.
Shome panel: Tax cash withdrawal beyond limit in a

day
A high-level official panel proposed

levying of banking transaction tax on
withdrawal of cash beyond a specified limit
in a day to check black money, and was
not in favour of the tax amnesty scheme.
A report by the Parthasarathi Shome
Committee, appointed by the previous
UPA government, suggested taxing
farmers with large land holdings in

addition to a host of measures to widen the
net.
Taxpayers keep waiting for amnesty
schemes to be announced and take
advantage of these schemes to build their
capital.
Amnesty schemes also cause inequity
among taxpayers, and there is no proof that
they improve taxpayer behaviour among
evaders.
They, therefore, should not be encouraged
through amnesties, said the report of the
Tax Administration and Reform
Commission (TARC). It was the third
report in the series.
Highlighting that there is no instrument at
present that captures details of cash
withdrawals from bank accounts, it said
such information would help the Income
Tax department widen its information base
on the use of black money.
Making a case for banking cash transaction
tax (BCTT), it said: ...IT Act should be
suitably revised to include in its ambit cash
withdrawals exceeding specified amounts
in a day from bank accounts other than
savings accounts.
Lower oil prices will boost global economy:

Christine Lagarde
The recent decline in oil prices will help
boost global economy, IMF chief Christine
Lagarde has said, as global oil prices have
tumbled to multi-year low.
It is good news for the global economy,
Ms. Lagarde said at The Wall Street Journal
CEO Council annual meeting.
For the United States, low energy prices
would help accelerate the economic growth
to a 3.5 per cent next year from the October
forecast of 3. 1 per cent, she said, adding
206
that Europe is also expected to benefit from

lower oil prices.
Ms. Lagarde, however, noted that the
Eurozone also faces a risk of the new
mediocre, and described it as an economy
marked by slow growth, low inflation and
high unemployment.
But at the same time, she asserted that
reluctant political leaders need to adopt
more job-friendly labour market reforms,
aggressive and innovative monetary policy
and other structural reforms.
Where they are at the moment they need
to use all available tools. They have to get
on with it and do it, Ms. Lagarde said.
During the meeting, the International
Monetary Fund Managing Director was
highly critical of Japan for being slow on
implementation of fiscal and labour market
reforms.
On Russia, Ms. Lagarde said lower prices
are adding to their fragility and their
vulnerability.
53% of Indians connected to internet every

hour, beat global average
Fifty-three per cent of Indians are
connected to the internet every waking
hour, which is higher than the global
average of 51 per cent, a new international
study has found.
The continuous online connectivity is
becoming a phenomenon in India with 53
per cent of respondents in the country
saying they are connected to the internet
every waking hour, said the study
conducted by the London-based AT
Kearney Global Research.
That is higher than 51 per cent global
average, 36 per cent in China and 39 per
cent in Japan, said the study titled
Connected Consumers Are Not Created
Equal: A Global Perspective.
The study covered 10 countries involving

10,000 respondents in July 2014.
The results of the study found that
continuous connectivity is having a big
impact on online retail in the country with
social networks becoming a major
influencing factor.
97 per cent of the respondents from India
said they have a Facebook account with 77
per cent saying they logged in to the social
network daily, said the study.
According to the study, there are three key
motivations for Indian people to be
continuously connected to internet.
OnePlus expects India will be its biggest
market in next few months
Bullish on the multi-billion dollar
opportunity in the Indian smartphone
segment, Chinese handset maker OnePlus
said it expects India to become its biggest
market in the next few months.
At present, China is the biggest market for
OnePlus, which announced its foray into
India with the launch of its One
smartphone at Rs 21,999.
In the next few months, we expect India
to be our biggest market, it will overtake
China, OnePlus India General Manager
Vikas Agarwal said.
In line with its global practice, users in
India will receive India-specific invites
through OnePlus and Amazon.in.
The two platforms have been integrated so
that invites can be used to purchase the
device exclusively on eCommerce major,
Amazon.in.
We will bring in as many devices as
possible in sync with our production
capacity. Cumulatively, till mid-October,
we have already sold 500,000 devices
(globally), he added.
207
This is the first time that OnePlus has

entered a new market with local presence
and collaboration with a local partner.
It has set up a local team in India, led by
Mr. Agarwal, for marketing and sales. The
Chinese startup is also putting together an
engineering team in Bangalore in the next
few months.
More steps to rationalise subsidies: Jaitley
Assuring India Inc. of the National
Democratic Alliances commitment to
economic reforms, Union Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said that the government
would announce more steps to rationalise
subsidies.
I had a series of meetings with the
Expenditure Management Commission. In
the next few months ... maybe earlier than
that, they will come out with some interim
recommendations so that we can proceed
with rationalisation, Mr. Jaitley said.
Recalling the governments decision to link
the diesel price with the market price, the
Minister told the India Economic Conclave,
organised by the television channel ET
Now, it would help reduce the subsidy
burden.
The Centre had set up a commission to
suggest steps to rationalise subsidies and
bring down the fiscal deficit. Mr. Jaitley
expressed confidence that the government
would be able to push the Insurance and
the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bills in
this session of Parliament.
Mr. Jaitley ruled out the NDA government
tinkering with the countrys federal
structure to help push economic reforms
faster.
The democratic process has its own
dynamics and that should go on, the
Minister said when asked why the
government could not straightaway
convene a joint session of both Houses of

Parliament to help pass key laws (in the
backdrop of the BJP not having a majority
in the Rajya Sabha).
Mr. Jaitley said that even in the past,
legislation had been passed in the Rajya
Sabha on the basis of a consensus among
the parties.
Indias manufacturing & services growth
outpaced China in November: HSBC survey
Manufacturing and services sectors in India
expanded at a faster pace than China in
November, even as emerging market
output slipped for the second consecutive
month to a six-month low, a HSBC survey
said.
The HSBC Emerging Markets Index (EMI),
a monthly indicator derived from PMI
surveys, slipped for the second month
running to 51.2, signalling the weakest rate
of expansion since May.
The EMI remained well below its long-run
trend level of 53.7 as both manufacturers
and service providers in emerging markets
registered slower and identical rates of
output expansion in November, HSBC
said.
2014 looks set to record the lowest annual
average for the Index since its inception in
November 2005, the HSBC report added.
Data for the four largest emerging
economies showed contrasting activity
trends in November. China registered
growth for the seventh month running,
while India posted the fastest growth since
June.
Russia and Brazil, however, registered
sharper rates of decline during November.
During November, the HSBC composite
index for India that maps both
manufacturing and services, stood at 53.6,
whereas for China it was 51.1, Brazil (48.1)
208

and Russia (47.6).
An index measure of above 50 indicates
expansion.
Downturns in Russia and Brazil are
intensifying to worrying extents, and
Chinas economic growth rate continues to
slow. Only India saw an improvement in
November, Markit Chief Economist Chris
Williamson said.
RBI has retained growth estimate at 5.5% for
2014-15
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
retained its growth estimate for 2014-15 at
5.5 per cent.
The reiteration of growth estimate is based
on its expectation of a normal monsoon.
Also, the apex bank is hopeful that there
will not be any adverse supply or financial
shocks.
While keeping the policy rates unchanged
in its fifth bi-monthly policy, the RBI said
conditions for a turnaround are
gathering. Nevertheless, it did concede
that activity appears to have lost some
momentum in Q2, probably extending into
Q3.
The RBI pointed to the softening of
inflation, easing of commodity prices/
input costs, comfortable liquidity
conditions, and rising business confidence
as well as purchasing activity.
These conditions could enable a pick-up
in Q4 if co-ordinated policy efforts fructify
in dispelling the drag on the economy
emanating from structural constraints, it
said.
A durable revival of investment demand
continues to be held back by infrastructural
constraints and lack of assured supply of
key inputs, in particular coal, power, land
and minerals, it said.
The success of ongoing government actions
in these areas wouldl be key to reviving

growth and offsetting downside risks
emanating from agriculture in view of
weaker-than-expected Rabi sowing and
exports given the sluggishness in external
demand, it added.
The apex bank said some easing of
monetary conditions had already taken
place. The weighted average call rates as
well as long-term yields for government
and high-quality corporate issuances had
moderated substantially since end-August,
it said.
IBM signs multi-billion deal with ABN
Amro
IBM has signed a ten-year, multi-billion
dollar deal to provide computer
infrastructure services to Dutch bank ABN
Amro running on its cloud systems, the
U.S. information technology firm said.
The deal comes as IBM is trying to gain
momentum in the market for Internetdelivered computing services, known as
cloud computing.
IBM will provide fully managed services
for mainframe computers, servers, storage
and end-user computing as well as a help
desk and other technical support.
SEBI (research analysts) norms to be
effective from Dec. 1
(SEBI) said the SEBI (Research Analysts)
Regulations, 2014 (RA Regulations), would
come into effect from December 1.
This was notified on September 1. No
person shall act as research analyst or
research entity or hold itself out as research
analyst unless he has obtained a certificate
of registration from SEBI under these
regulations unless an exemption
specifically applies, SEBI said in a release.
209
Kisan Vikas Patra, re-launch with very few

justifications
Despite some criticism and misgivings in
certain quarters, the government has
decided to re-introduce the Kisan Vikas
Patra (KVP), a savings instrument that was
discontinued three years ago.
Positioned as a savings instrument in line
with other continuing small savings
schemes such as the Public Provident Fund
(PPF) and the National Savings Certificates
(NSCs), the new KVP, like its predecessor,
has certain advantages as well as
disadvantages over these. Most ordinary
investors will compare the new KVP with
bank deposits and other debt instruments.
Broad features of the new KVP
Interest: 8.7 per cent.

Tenure: eight years and four months (100
months).
Investment doubles in 100 months.
Minimum lock-in period two years and six
months.
Liquidity
Can be encashed in eight equal monthly

instalments after the lock-in period
Can be transferred to another person by
endorsement and delivery
Can also be given as collateral for loans by
banks
Minimum investment Rs.1,000. Thereafter,
in denominations of Rs.5,000, Rs.10,000 and
Rs.50,000. There is no maximum limit.
Taxability: fully taxable
Mode of investment: cash or cheque
Know your customer (KYC) norms: PAN
not required but identity/address proof
required
Will be sold initially through post offices
across the country, but later through some
government-owned banks also.
Taking three other relevant traits

liquidity, convenience and tax advantage
the new KVP is reasonably liquid.
Investors can come out after the minimum
lock-in period in eight equal instalments.
The KVP can also be given as collateral.
Unlike PPF and NSCs, the KVP does not
have a tax advantage. Interest on it is fully
taxable.
Bank deposits are superior to KVP in terms
of returns three year fixed deposits offer
9 per cent and some banks even more. The
argument that deposit rates are set to fall
over the medium-term is no doubt valid,
but one expects the banks to safeguard their
depositors concerns by floating innovative
schemes.
It is also certain that the corporate bond
market will revive and be a conduit for
infrastructure finance. This will matter to
senior citizens and others who want a fixed,
steady return in the form of investment in
infrastructure bonds.
Bank deposits are liquid, absolutely secure
and highly accessible to most middle-class
investors. They have a minimum tax
advantage practically restricted to
interest on savings accounts.
Petroleum product prices headed for further
correction
Petroleum product prices are headed for
further correction after the Organiztion of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
decided not to resort to output cut to revive
falling Brent crude prices.
According to experts, petrol and diesel
prices may come down by Rs.2 a litre as
the Indian basket price is different and is
higher than spot prices.
A sharp division among the oil cartel
members augurs well for emerging
countries like India for at least the next 6
210
months when OPEC would meet again to

take a call on restricting production.
After the proposal to cut production by 1
million barrels a day was rejected, Brent
crude prices plunged to four-year low of
around $71 a barrel.
The impact could be much more in the
coming days and in the December-January
period when fund houses would reduce
their exposure to underperforming
commodity assets and allocate funds to
high yielding equities, said analysts.
Most OPEC members decided against
production cut to protect their market
share. They have deep pockets to afford a
price as low as $67 a barrel.
Even if the sales realisation comes, down
OPEC members like Saudi Arabia, Iraq,
Iran and Libya have the longest holding
power to continue production.
Dubai will invest $32-billion to build

worlds largest Airport
To further secure its position as the worlds
aviation hub, Dubai Airports is building a
whopping USD 32billion greenfield
airport at the upcoming Dubai World
Central, 30 km off the present international
airport which already is the second busiest
in the world.
The proposed new airport will become the
worlds largest aviation facility on
completion and will have five runways
which all will be simultaneously
operational, all A380-compatible with a
length of 4.5 km each.
We are planning a USD 32billion brand
new airport at the Dubai World Central at
Al Maktoum, 30 km off the present Dubai
facility.
In the first phase, the new airport will be
able to handle 120 million passengers,
which will go up to 200 million by 2020,
when the project is completed, Dubai

Airports Corporate Communications Head
Julius Baumann told PTI.
On completion, the new airport will be the
worlds largest airport, with each
concourse the size of seven football fields
and have five runways which all will be
simultaneously operational, all A380compatible, Mr. Baumann said.
The other features include 200 aircraft
stands for wide bodied aircraft, four
concourses connected via six airport trains
to two terminals, which in turn will be
linked to the citys metro network. When
complete, the mega-hub will have total
annual capacity exceeding 200 million
passengers and 12 million tonne of freight.
The existing Al Maktoum International
opened its doors to passengers on October
27, 2013 and three airlines are operating
from here.
Switzerland rejected plans to hoard gold,
limit immigration
Voters in Switzerland rejected plans to
protect the countrys wealth by investing
in gold and drastically limit immigration,
according to polling firm gfs.bern.
A proposal to require the Swiss central
bank to hold a fifth of its reserves in gold
was opposed by 78 per cent of voters and
supported by 22 per cent, projections based
on tallies provided by selected voting
districts indicated.
The plan would have forced the Swiss
National Bank to buy massive amounts of
gold within five years and likely causing
the global price for the valuable metal to
jump.
The proposal to limit immigration to 0.2 per
cent of Switzerlands population about
16,000 immigrants a year for a country of 8
million received the backing of 26 per cent
211
of voters, while 74 per cent opposed it.

Currently, immigration is estimated at
around 80,000 a year.
The Ecopop initiative would also have
forced Switzerland to devote a large chunk
of its foreign aid to programs aimed at
reducing population growth in poor
countries.
Earlier this year, Swiss voters narrowly
backed a proposal by the nationalist
Peoples Party to reintroduce quotas for
immigrants.
The outcome has proved to be a political
headache for the Swiss government as it
now needs to renegotiate bilateral treaties
with the European Union, of which it isnt
a member.
RIL to transfer textile business to new Joint
Venture with Chinese company
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), announced
that it had entered into a definitive
agreement with a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Chinas Shandong Ruyi
Science and Technology Group (Ruyi) to
transfer its founding textile business into a
newly incorporated joint venture (JV)
company.
RIL said that it would receive cash
consideration from the deal. It will own 51
per cent in the proposed joint venture,
while Ruyi will own the balance. The
proposed transaction is subject to requisite
approvals.
In the 1970s, Reliance entered into the
textile business in a small way, and since
then, it has grown to be a Fortune Global
500 company through backward vertical
integration.
The textile business of RIL operates under
the brand Vimal, which was popularised
by the Only Vimal campaign. This business has a prominent presence in the do-
mestic worsted and synthetic suiting fabric segments.

Ruyi, Chinas leading textile company with
revenues of $3 billion, has a global presence with a portfolio of world-renowned
brands. It operates in India under the Georgia Gullini brand in the worsted suiting
segment. This business operation would be
realigned with the joint venture.
Our joint venture will help Reliance
reposition its textile business on a high
growth path. Our partners deep
commitment and global reach in textile
business will enable this joint venture to
harness the growth potential of the Indian
market and emerge as a global textile
player, said RIL Executive Director Nikhil
Meswani.
Essar group set to ink a deal to import crude
from Russia
The Essar Group will sign a long-term
crude oil import deal with Russias Rosneft
during President Vladimir Putins visit to
New Delhi, government and industry.
Essar will sign an MoU (memorandum of
understanding) with them (Rosneft), two
Indian government sources said. The deal
will be for ten years, an industry source
familiar with the matter said.
The Essar group operates the 405,000
barrels per day (bpd) Vadinar refinery in
Gujarat and also the 296,000 bpd Stanlow
refinery in northwest England, which is
operating at below its capacity.
Volumes, pricing and other details of the
deal with state-controlled Rosneft, the
worlds largest listed oil firm by output,
were not immediately known. Essar
depends heavily on Iran to feed its Vadinar
refinery.
In January, sources told Reuters that Russia
and Iran were negotiating an oil-for-goods
212

swap deal. Russian Economy Minister
Alexei Ulyukayev was quoted on
November 30 as saying the deal with Iran
might be sealed soon.
India is on growth track: IMF
The International Monetary Fund said the
focus on governance and financial
inclusion measures taken by the
government were positive signs that India
was back on the growth track.
In India, the growth was stalled for
sometime, but the measures taken by the
new government started showing signals
of growth, it said.
We see a positive outlook for India. Last
year, the growth rate was 4.7 per cent, and
in the current year it would be around 5.6
per cent.
With the new governments initiatives, we
believe the growth rate next year would be
even more, said Ratna Sahay, Deputy
Director (Strategy, Planning and
Coordination), Monetary and Capital
Markets Department, IMF.
The IMF also said, in India lack of
infrastructure was a major hurdle for
developmental activities, which the
government needed to address for speedy
growth.
Commenting on the Make in India move
by the government, Ms. Ratna said, It will
create jobs, and will generate tax revenues.
This will help in reducing the fiscal deficit.
The IMF also said the growth outlook was
good.
However, the country needed more
reforms to fuel the growth. Though there
are positive signs, there are lot of reforms
needed to bring inflation and budget deficit
down, she added.
Some of the reforms the government
should look at would be to improve tax

administration, introduction of GST, to get
rid of subsidies on fertilizers as well as food
and reduce corruption.
PSBs can issue equity with differential
voting rights: Arundhati Bhattacharya
With the government indicating that it
would not continue to fund public sector
banks (PSBs), State Bank of India (SBI)
Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said
they could look at issuing shares with
differential voting rights to raise funds to
meet the Basel-III capital adequacy norms.
The writing on the wall is very clear...they
(PSBs) have to think of differential voting
rights. It is time to lay out some kind of
roadmap on how much the banks need to
do and how much support it would get,
she said while talking to reporters on the
sidelines of a conference.
The government allowed PSBs to raise up
to Rs.1.60 lakh crore from markets by
diluting government holding to 52 per cent
in phases so as to meet the Basel III norms.
Pitching for consolidation in the banking
sector, Ms. Bhattacharya said it was
important to have 3-4 major banks.
According to Ms. Bhattacharya, it is better
to merge good banks with good banks.
The news that the government has
allowed PSBs to bring down the
government stake to 52 per cent kicks off
the next round of reforms... because for the
first time, clear signal has been given (to
PSBs) to source capital from the market.
The big daddy back there is not going to
be around to give them capital as and when
they need. If they need to be competitive
and want to grow, then they definitely need
to look at other places for more capital,
Ms. Bhattacharya added.
213
Civilised tax regime to attract investors:

Jaitly
India will soon raise the foreign investment
cap in the insurance sector and work for
making the tax regime civilised to attract
overseas investments, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said, while exuding
confidence of achieving 6 per cent growth
next fiscal.
Mr. Jaitley was replying to a debate in the
Lok Sabha on Supplementary Demands for
Grants for an additional expenditure of
over Rs. 12,500 crore. However, the actual
cash outgo would be Rs. 500 crore.
India likely to improve economic growth in
2016: UN
Indias economic growth is expected to
improve to 6.3 per cent in 2016 with the
country leading economic recovery in
South Asia, according to a United Nations
report.
The UN World Economic Situation and
Prospects 2015 (WESP) report, launched,
also said India is likely to make progress
in implementing economic policy reforms
and help provide support to business and
consumer confidence.
It said global economic growth is forecast
to continue increasing over the next two
years, despite legacies from the financial
crisis continuing to weigh on growth, and
the emergence of new challenges, including
geopolitical conflicts such as in Ukraine,
and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The global economy is expected to grow
3.1 per cent in 2015 and 3.3 per cent in 2016,
compared with an estimated growth of 2.6
per cent for 2014, when the pace of
expansion has been moderate and uneven.
It said India, which is estimated to record
a 5.4 per cent economic growth in 2014, will
see GDP growth improving to 5.9 per cent

next year and 6.3 per cent in 2016.
Economic growth in South Asia is also set
to gradually pick up from an estimated 4.9
per cent in 2014 to 5.4 per cent in 2015 and
5.7 per cent in 2016.
Inflation declined to 4.38% in November
Declining for the fifth consecutive month,
retail inflation dropped to 4.38 per cent in
November, the lowest since the new series
of data was introduced in January, 2012,
on the back of high-base effect of last year
and softening of prices of food items.
The Consumer Price Index-based inflation
or retail inflation stood at 5.52 per cent in
October, while it was 11.16 per cent in
November, 2013.
Industrial production measured by IIP
contracts by 4.2% in October
The factory output as measured by the
Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
contracted by 4.2 per cent in October, on
account of de-growth in the manufacturing
sector and poor demand for consumer
goods.
The factory output had declined by 1.2 per
cent in the same month last year. For
September, it was revised to 2.8 per cent
from the provisional estimates of 2.5 per
cent released last month.
During the April-October period, the IIP
rose 1.9 per cent against 0.2 per cent in same
period of last fiscal.
The fall in manufacturing growth in
October is disturbing, more so because it
is broad-based and not limited to a few
sectors, FICCI President Sidharth Birla
said.
It not only reflected slowdown in
investments but also the deep rooted
214

slackness in consumer demand which
required bringing down the interest rates
urgently, he added.
Industry experts expressed concern over
the fact that despite being a festive month,
growth of consumer goods, especially
durables, has been negative in October.
Sixteen of the 22 industries registered
negative growth rates. It is disappointing
more so because October is one of the peak
spending months when rural incomes
increase and two festivals should have
prompted consumer spending.
It does appear more was spent on gold
(imports have increased), CARE Ratings
said. Manufacturing output, which
constitutes over 75 per cent of the index,
contracted by 7.6 per cent in October,
compared to a dip of 1.3 per cent in the
same month a year ago.
TCS targets to exceed 55,000 hiring this
fiscal
TCS, said it was undertaking a
performance-based
workforce
restructuring, but it was not a
retrenchment exercise and the company
might exceed its target of hiring 55,000 new
professionals this fiscal.
Without giving any specific numbers for
employees to be affected by this
continuous restructuring process, the HR
head of the company also said that it is
not that everyone being relieved is a bad
performer.
It is not a special process. It is a continuous
process, TCS EVP and Head (Global) HR
Ajoyendra Mukherjee told reporters.
His comments follow reports about TCS
undertaking a significant performancerelated restructuring of its workforce,
which may also lead to some employees
being asked to leave the company.
Downplaying it as a regular exercise, Mr.

Mukherjee also said the company was on
track to meet its gross hiring target of 55,000
employees in the current fiscal ending
March 31, 2015, and may even exceed it.
He said that the company has a campus
offer target of 35,000 people and it has
already made over 31,000 offers and more
than 3000 offers would be made during the
fiscal. This (restructuring) is nothing new
what we are doing.
Switzerlands gold exports to India marked
near Rs. 1 trillion in 2014
Amid concerns of bullion trade being used
for routing of black money, Switzerlands
gold exports to India have risen further and
fast approaching Rs. 1 trillion mark for the
entire 2014.
The Swiss gold exports to India stood at
over 2.8 billion Swiss francs (over Rs. 18,000
crore) in October, up from about 2.2 billion
Swiss francs in the previous month, shows
the latest data from the Swiss Customs
Administration.
This has taken the total Swiss gold exports
to India since January this year to 14.2
billion Swiss francs (nearly Rs. 93,000
crore), as per the data compiled by
Switzerlands cross-border trade
monitoring agency.
This surge in gold shipments has made
India the largest destination for the yellow
metal exports from Switzerland.
There are concerns that gold trade could
be a possible route for laundering of
unaccounted wealth, suspected to be
stashed by Indians in Swiss banks,
although there has been no official word
from either countries so far in this regard.
The Supreme Court-constituted SIT,
however, said in its latest report on black
money that a dedicated institutional
215
mechanism needs to be put in place to

examine mismatch between export/
import data with corresponding import/
export data of other countries on at least a
quarterly, if not a monthly basis.
The SIT said that this suggestion has been
made by the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), while citing the Data Analysis and
Research for Trade Transparency System
adopted by US, to control over/under
invoicing to some extent.
Incentivise domestic savings to boost
economy: RBI Chief
Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan
cautioned the government on Prime Minister Narendra Modis Make in India mantra, suggesting that India would have to
look for regional and domestic demand for
growth to make in India primarily for
India.
Dr. Rajan said that at this stage, an exportspush strategy for growth would be
ineffective; as the industrial world
stagnated, many emerging markets were
rethinking their export-led growth model,
he said.
There is a danger when we discuss Make
in India of assuming it means a focus on
manufacturing, an attempt to follow the
export-led growth path that China followed But the world as a whole is unlikely to be able to accommodate another
export-led China, Dr. Rajan said.
Since the global economy was still weak,
he argued, it would be much less likely to
be able to absorb a substantial additional
amount of imports in the foreseeable
future.
Export-led growth will not be as easy for
India as it was for the Asian economies that
took that path before.
He also cautioned the Modi government
against picking a particular sector such as

manufacturing for encouragement, simply
because it had worked well for China.
SpiceJet officials meeting the DGCA
SpiceJet has indicated that its promoters are
backing the airline that is apparently facing
financial problems.
The airlines officials met the Secretary,
Civil Aviation, and the Director-General of
Civil Aviation to pass this message. This is
the second time this week that SpiceJet
officials are meeting the DGCA.
The low-cost carriers chief operating
officer, Sanjiv Kapoor, refused to comment
on the meeting. On his Twitter page, he
posted the message: @SKapoorSpiceJet:
Apologies again to all our customers
affected by our temporary ongoing
challenges. We will do our best to win back
your loyalty and support.
The falling global crude prices will work
to our benefit if we set things right soon,
said a source at SpiceJet, who wished
anonymity. We will come back soon. We
will come out with an update in a day or
two.
On the other side, the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) sent out an e-mail
to its members saying its airline council
was in touch with the SpiceJet management.
This morning, we had a conference call
with Shilpa Bhatia, senior vice-president
and head of sales, TAAI said in an e-mail.
The airline management is meeting
DGCA officials this afternoon along with
a plan and insight of the airlines financial
status.
They have stated that there is a financial
crunch, but not something that will shut
down the airline. When TAAI voiced its
concerns, SpiceJet assured it that all refunds
216

due to cancellations and waivers would be
granted, looking at the situation.
CII demanded clarity and stability in tax
policy
In pre-budget consultations with Revenue
Secretary Shaktikanta Das and other
officers of the Finance Ministry, the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
emphasised the need for the government
to implement steps for reviving the
economy.
It also demanded a bunch of tax
concessions. The CII demanded simplicity,
clarity and stability in the tax policy regime
and technology based e-governance
initiatives on procedural simplification at
the meeting, according to a press release.
To boost the investor sentiment, the CII
demanded that the government take the
Make in India initiative to a new level and
galvanise the economy to a higher and
inclusive growth path.
The CII team was led by past President
Arun Bharat Ram. He stated that the CII
was deliberating in a constructive manner
on the possible solutions for fundamental
design issues on Goods and Services Tax
(GST) and asked for opportunities for
regular interaction with the officials
dealing with the reform.
The industry chamber recommended that
the government remove anomalies in
customs duty and halve the Central Sales
Tax rate from 2 per cent to 1 per cent to
compensate for the delay in the
implementation of the GST.
It also demanded that the government
extend the excise duty concessions on
certain goods to March 15, 2015. In the
Union budget 2014-15, this reduction in the
range of 2 per cent-6 per cent was provided
up to December 31, 2014.
It also demanded that investment

allowance should be extended to the
infrastructure sector to further spur
investment activity in the economy.
Global demand for OPEC crude in 2015 will
be less
Global demand for OPEC crude in 2015 will
be less than expected and far below its current output, the group said, pointing to a
hefty supply surplus without OPEC output cuts or a slowdown in the U.S. shale
boom.
In a monthly report, the Organization of
the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
forecast demand for the groups oil will
drop to 28.92 million barrels per day (bpd)
in 2015, down 280,000 bpd from its previous expectation and over one million bpd
less than it is now producing.
The report follows OPECs decision last
month not to prop up prices by cutting
output. Top exporter Saudi Arabia urged
fellow members to combat the growth in
U.S. shale, which needs relatively high
prices to be economic and has been eroding
OPECs market share.
OPECs November 27 decision to retain its
output target of 30 million bpd sent prices
plunging. Brent crude was trading below
$66 a barrel, close to a five-year low and
down more than 40 per cent since June.
The report cut its forecast for growth in
global demand in 2015 due to a weaker
outlook for Europe and Asia, and predicted
higher supply growth from shale and other
non-OPEC sources, although it said this
may be slowed if prices stay weak.
Should the current fall in crude prices
continue over a longer period, it will impact
the non-OPEC supply forecast for 2015,
especially anticipated growth in tight
crude, OPECs report said, using another
term for shale oil.
217
For now though, OPECs report indicates

that, with OPEC pumping 30.05 million
bpd in November, according to secondary
sources cited by the report, there will be a
surplus of 1.13 million bpd in 2015, and 1.83
million bpd in the first half.
WTO rules against the U.S. in steel dispute
with India
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has
ruled against the U.S. imposing high duty
on imports of certain Indian steel products,
an order hailed by India as a significant
victory that will help domestic
manufacturers and exporters.
The Appellate Body of the WTO has ruled
that the high duty imposed by the U.S. on
the certain Indian steel imports was
inconsistent with various provisions of the
Agreement
on
Subsidies
and
Countervailing Measures (ASCM).
India has achieved a significant victory at
the WTO, as the Appellate Body held that
the Countervailing Duty (CVD) measures
imposed by the U.S. against certain hotrolled carbon steel flat products are
inconsistent with various provisions of the
ASCM, an official statement said.
The move would definitely help domestic
manufacturers, which had been suffering
due to inconsistent practices by the U.S.
Department of Commerce, it added.
The implication of this ruling is that the U.S.
has to amend its domestic law to be WTO
compliant. It has significant trade impact
for India as out of the current 10 products
on which U.S. has imposed CVD, about
seven products suffer from the same
inconsistency, it said.
India sees clear pick-up in growth
momentum says OECD
Reflecting improved prospects, India is the
only major economy seeing a clear pick up

in growth momentum while mixed trends
are predicted for developed countries,
according to Paris-based think tank
Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD).
The OECD said growth would continue to
lose momentum in Europe. For other major
economies, the outlook is for stable growth
momentum.
The readings, for the month of October, are
based on composite leading indicator
(CLI), which is designed to anticipate
turning points in economic activity relative
to trend.
India is the only major economy where the
CLI points to a clear pick-up in growth
momentum, OECD said in a statement.
The countrys CLI rose to 99.6 in October
from 99.4 in the previous month. Last
month, the OECD said the Indian economy
was expected to see an average growth of
6.7 per cent over the 2015-19 period, while
a further boost would depend on reform
plans of the government.
In October, the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank projected 5.6 per
cent growth rate for India this year, citing
renewed confidence in the market due to a
series of economic reforms pursued by the
new government.
Reliance Group sells multiplex business to

Carnival
Anil Ambani led Reliance Group has sold
its multiplex business to South India based
Carnival Group in the largest ever deal in
this space.
The transaction will reduce Reliance
Capitals overall debt by Rs 700 crore and
is part of Reliance Capitals strategy to exit
minority investments.
The deal will make Carnival the third
218
largest multiplex operator with nationwide

presence and over 300 screens, a statement
said. The firms did not disclose the exact
value of the deal.
The deal struck between Carnival Cinemas
and Reliance MediaWorks, will exclude
IMAX Wadala (Mumbai) and some other
properties worth Rs 200 crore, the
statement added.
Reliance Capital is the parent firm of
Reliance MediaWorks, which operates one
of the largest cinema chains, under the
brand BIG Cinemas with over 250 screens
pan-India.
Sam Ghosh, CEO, Reliance Capital, said:
We are delighted to begin a long term
relationship with the rapidly growing
Carnival Group, through the sale of the
multiplexes business of Reliance Media
Works to them.
Carnival Group is targeting to achieve
1,000 screens by the year 2017, said its
chairman Shrikant Bhasi. The proposed
transaction is subject to necessary statutory
and other approvals and is expected to be
closed within the current financial year.
Mid-Year Economic Review projects 5.5%

growth: Jaitley
Despite the sprouting of green shoots, a
robust recovery is still to fully take hold,
says the Mid-Year Economic Analysis for
the current year, tabled in Parliament by
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The Review projects 2014-15 growth will
be 5.5 per cent. India faces challenges that
are mostly domestic, says the Review.
India grew at sub-5 per cent for the last two
years. Growth bounced to 5.7 per cent in
the April-June quarter before slipping
again to 5.3 per cent in the July-September
quarter.
We see some signs of private consumption
stirring, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA)

Arvind Subramanian told reporters after
the Review was tabled.
What we are yet to see decisively is private
investment picking up.
The Review says that over-indebtedness in
Indias corporate sector is amongst the
highest in the world. This, it says, exerts a
drag on future investment and spending.
The public private partnership model has
been less than successful, the Review says.
First, the backlog of stalled projects needs
to be cleared more expeditiouslyBut even
if the backlog is cleared, there is going to
be a flow challenge: attracting new private
investment, especially in infrastructure.
With private sector investments uncertain,
Dr. Subramanian said, public investment
itself could be an engine of growth over the
medium-term but not in the short run as
governments revenues are likely to fall
short of the budgets optimistic targets.
The Review said too that the Centre faces a
major challenge in achieving its fiscal
deficit target of 4.1 per cent of GDP in the
current year. Dr. Subramanian, however,
said the government is committed to
achieving it and is considering all measures
including spending cuts.
SpiceJet is all to change hands

Embattled airline company SpiceJet is all
set to change hands.
With the Marans of Sun Group not keen
on investing more, Ajay Singh, one of the
original co-promoters of SpiceJet is
understood to be doing due diligence of the
company with a view to acquire a fresh
stake along with a couple of financial
investors.
An official privy to the development said
that the data room had been opened for due
diligence.
219
GreenDust.com planning to expend global

presence
Refurbished goods retailer Reverse
Logistics Corps, which operates
GreenDust.com, is planning to expand its
global footprint by entering Africa, South
Asia and CIS. It has already started a pilot
in Dubai, the U.S., and Hong Kong.
We are planning to expand our presence
in the emerging markets. Returns and
refurbished market are a $500-billion
opportunity worldwide, and we want to be
the Alibaba of this space, said GreenDust
founder and CEO Hitendra Chaturvedi.
Founded in 2008, GreenDust refurbishes
damaged or defective products and sells
through its online channel and offline
franchisee. The company sells products
under three categories such as end of life
products, factory seconds and refurbished
products at a discounted price.
We started with consumer appliances,
mobile phones, laptops and computers.
However, looking at the growth of the ecommerce sector, we believe that we can
sell anything that is sold through ecommerce, added Mr. Chaturvedi.
The company had recently partnered ecommerce companies such as Flipkart,
Snapdeal and Amazon to manage their
reverse supply chain. The company, which
expects a revenue of over Rs.1,000 crore this
year, is planning to expand its reach.
GoAir offers discount on fares, lowest at Rs
1,469 for travel next year
The Wadia Group-promoted budget carrier
GoAir said it has put 1.7 million seats up
for sale, offering fares as low as Rs. 1,469
for travel next year with a five-day booking
period, to stimulate demand during the
lean period.
The special offer is available on flights

across the GoAir network for a travel
period between January 1 and March 31,
the airline said. The bookings under the
offer can be made between December 21
and December 25, it said.
The January-March quarter is
traditionally a lean quarter... The purpose
of introducing these fares is to make air
travel affordable during the period, GoAir
chief executive Giorgio De Roni toldPTIin
New Delhi.
Stating that lowering of ticket prices was
not to trigger a fare war in the domestic
skies, Mr. De Roni said, It is not an offer
on lowest price or the cheapest price but to
make it affordable and more attractive
during the lean period.
GoAir is committed to offer the affordable
fares that allows it to deliver a sustainable
result, Mr. De Roni said, adding we can
grow only when we are profitable and
develop our network and the fleet.
The airline wants to be consistent with its
pricing strategy, he said. The Mumbaibased airline operates across 22
destinations in the country with a fleet of
19 Airbus A320s.
SEBI barred 260 entities for suspected
money laundering
In its biggest ever crackdown for suspected
tax evasion and laundering of black money
through stock trading platforms, the
Securities and Exchange Board of India
barred 260 entities, including individuals
and companies, from the securities
markets.
While SEBI would further probe these
cases, it has also decided to refer the matter
to the I-T Department, the Enforcement
Directorate, the Financial Intelligence Unit,
among other agencies, for necessary actions
220
on their part.
Through two separate interim orders, SEBI
said that these 260 entities would be
restrained from accessing the securities
market and from buying, selling or dealing
in securities, either directly or indirectly,
with immediate effect till further directions.
It has also asked stock exchanges and the
depositories to ensure that all its directions
are strictly enforced. While 152 entities
have been barred in one case relating to an
entity, named First Financial Services Ltd,
another 108 entities have faced the action
in a case related to Radford Global Limited.
The action comes at a time when the
government has sharpened its focus on
unearthing black money stashed abroad
and within the country, while SEBI also
recently tightened its surveillance of shell
companies
In the first case, the suspected dealings took
place on the stock market for almost two
years till March 31, 2014, while the second
case relates to a period of little more than a
year starting January, 2013.
Petroleum products brought under GST

Apart from subsuming various Central
indirect taxes and levies and State taxes, the
Constitution (122 Amendment) Bill,
introduced in the Lok Sabha, confers
simultaneous power to Union and State
legislations to legislate on Goods and
Service Tax (GST).
All goods and services, except alcoholic
liquor for human consumption, will be
brought under the purview of GST.
Petroleum and petroleum products have
also been constitutionally brought under
GST.
However, it has also been provided that
petroleum products shall not be subject to
the levy of GST till notified at a future date
on the recommendation of the GST Council.

The present taxes levied by the States and
the Centre on petroleum and petroleum
products, i.e., Sales Tax/VAT, CST and
Excise duty only, will continue to be levied
in the interim period.
Responding to the concerns aired by
members, Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley took them down memory lane to
2006 when it was mooted by the UPA in its
Budget and also narrated efforts made by
the present government to build a
consensus on what he has often billed as
the single most important tax reform after
1947.
Stating that GST was originally conceived
by Vajpayeeji, he pointed out that it was
pushed by both the UPA Finance Ministers.
The object behind the GST is to have a
seamless transfer of goods and services
across the country. Let there be no tax on
tax, Mr Jaitley said.
SEBI makes fresh bid to find Sahara
investors
In a fresh effort to locate Sahara investors
eligible for refunds, regulator Securities
and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has
asked bondholders to submit their claims
by January along with necessary proof of
their investments.
The latest exercise follows a similar attempt
made by Sebi in August, wherein the
eligible bondholders were asked to submit
their refund claims to the regulator by
September 30, 2014.
Sebi said it received 4,900 refund claims
during that exercise from the bondholders
of two Sahara companies Sahara India
Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara
Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL),
which had raised over Rs 24,000 crore from
about three crore investors.
221
In the interest of those bondholders of

Saharas who could not submit their refund
claims before the last date, this
advertisement is being issued to enable
those bondholders to submit their refund
claims, Sebi said.
The Supreme Court had asked Sebi to
facilitate refund to the bondholders of the
two companies in connection with a longrunning dispute involving raising of funds
to the tune of over Rs 24,000 crore from
investors across the country.
Existing account enough to avail Jan Dhan
benefits: govt.
Government said persons already having
bank account need not to open a fresh one
to avail benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana (PMJDY).
A person who is already having a bank
account with any bank need not have to
open a separate account under PMJDY.
He/she will just have to get issued a RuPay

card in his existing account to get benefit
of accidental insurance, a Finance
Ministry statement said.
The overdraft facility can be extended in
existing account, it said. Accidental
insurance of Rs 1 lakh will be available to
all RuPay card holders between 18-70
years. They will need to use their RuPay
card once in 45 days of receipt of the card
to get the benefit.
The accidental claim intimation should be
given to bank within 30 days from the date
of accident, it added. For life insurance
coverage, one person per family will get a
single cover of Rs 30,000 on one card only
despite having multiple accounts/cards.
The claim of Rs 30,000 is payable to the
nominee of account holder who need to
submit necessary documents to the nodal
branch of the concerned bank, the
Ministry said.
222
Science & Technology
New treatment for diabetes in offing: study

Australian researchers have discovered a
link between protein intake and improved
control of blood glucose in mice, opening
the way for potential new treatments for
diabetes in human beings.
Lead researcher Stefan Broer of Australian
National University (ANU) said the
findings show mice, with a reduced
capacity to digest and absorb protein, are
highly efficient at removing glucose from
blood after a meal. This is precisely what
individuals with diabetes fail to do. This
research has significant potential for the
design of new drugs to treat type 2
diabetes, said Professor Broer, from the
ANU Research School of Biology.
Prof. Broer said the mice lacked a so
called transporter in the intestine that
moves amino acids, the breakdown
products of protein digestion, from the
lumen of the intestine into the blood. This
reduces the intake of protein and indirectly
improves their efficiency at removing
glucose from the blood.

Military modernisation picks up pace
In one year of the Narendra Modi
government, military modernisation has
gathered pace, especially in the last couple
of months, with some quick decisions taken
by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC).
However, major policy formulations, in
particular, revision of Defence
Procurement Policy (DPP) and a separate
policy for Make in India, are still awaited.
The governments election pitch of One
Rank One Pension for armed forces
personnel has been cleared in principle and
the final sanction is expected shortly.
The biggest decision of the NDA
government in the field of defence was the
termination of the long-running Medium
Multi-Role Combat Aircraft contract for 126
jets and the announcement by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi for direct
purchase of 36 Rafale jets from France in a
government-to-government deal.
223
Apart from that, in a move with long-term

implications, the government rightfully
downsized the new mountain strike corps
meant for the eastern border from 90,000
to 35,000 troops due to finance obligations.
The DAC has cumulatively cleared defence
deals worth over Rs. 1,00,000 crore. The
recent decisions on Avro replacement
programme and Kamov helicopters, which
involve industry in a big way, will help
develop aerospace ecosystem in the
country.
While some are long-pending deals, others
are approvals to initiate the procurement
process which involves long timelines. The
need is to take things to the logical
conclusion minus the time and cost
overruns typical of our procurement
process.
Google help for NGOs working on child
safety
Google India has announced support for
three non-governmental agencies from
India working on child safety.
The three organisations are ChildLine India
Foundation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, and
the Chennai-based Tulir - Centre for the
Healing and Prevention of Child Sexual
Abuse.
In a message, Rajan Anandan, vicepresident and Managing Director, Google
India, said they had picked organisations
whose work was largely offline, boots on
the ground. Now, wed like to see if
smart applications of technology can help
some of these initiatives reach more people
more efficiently, he added.
Google will help these organisations pilot
smart new applications of technology with
$ 5,00,000 in grants through Google.org to
ensure that children in India remain safe.
While ChildLine provides a toll-free
helpline service (1098) for children in

distress, first launched in 1996, Bachpan
Bachao Andolan sets itself a mission to
protect and rescue children from slavery,
trafficking and forced labour.
Tulir, on the other hand, works with the
state and other education professionals to
help children stay safe.
We would like to optimally use
technology to take child protection to a
wider group, and online, says Vidya
Reddy of Tulir.
Indias eye on universe ready for tests
A fully assembled Astrosat, Indias first
space observatory, is ready for intensive
tests before its launch around October.
The Indian Space Research Organisation
said on that the 1,650-kg spacecraft would
orbit Earth equatorially at 650 km and
study distant stars, galaxies, black holes
and other cosmic objects.
The space-based observatory was built at
the ISRO Satellite Centre here to operate
for five years and will provide useful data
for the countrys astronomy community. It
will put India in an elite orbit with the U.S.,
Europe, Russia and Japan.
Last week, the spacecraft was fully
assembled and switched on. All the [six]
payloads and sub-systems are integrated
into the satellite. Mechanical fit checks of
the satellite with the PSLV [polar satellite
launch vehicle] payload adaptor were
performed successfully, the space agency
said on its website.
One of ISRO directors said Astrosat would
be the first such satellite to scan
simultaneously the sky in most of the
frequency spectra from ultraviolet to
optical and low- and high-energy X-ray
bands.
224

Although previous national satellites
carried small astronomy-related devices,
Nothing on this scale, with a dedicated
satellite, has been done before [at ISRO]. It
should be of immense benefit to our
scientists, who have depended on inputs
from other agencies and sources like the
Hubble [US-European space telescope],
the official said.
In the coming days, Astrosat will undergo
a host of environmental tests
electromagnetic
interference,
electromagnetic compatibility, thermal
vacuum, vibration and acoustics and so on.
Later, the satellite will be shipped to the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota,
for launch.
ISRO developed the six payloads in
partnership with the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research, Mumbai; the
Indian Institute of Astrophysics and the
Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru; and
the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy
and Astrophysics, Pune.
Two payloads were developed with the
Canadian Space Agency and the University
of Leicester, U.K.
Indian Ocean warms as Pacific cools

Though surface heat of Earth has stabilised
since 1999, studies have found that
atmospheric heat continues to rise
unabated with the oceans absorbing a large
amount of this heat and warming in the
past decade (2000-2012).
However, a new study by Sang-Ki Lee of
the University of Miami, U.S., and others
has found that the Indian Ocean has been
warming the most rapidly while the
adjoining Pacific Ocean has been getting
cooled during the past decade. The study
was published in a recent issue of the
journal Nature Geoscience .
In fact the Indian Ocean accounts for 70 per
cent of all the global oceans heat gain up to

700 metres depth during the past decade.
The analysis shows that the abrupt increase
of the Indian Ocean Heat Content at 700
metres depth (OHC{-7}{-0}{-0}) during
2003-2012 was not due to surface heating,
but rather due almost entirely to horizontal
advective heat convergence (caused by
winds and resulting currents). Further heat
budget analysis indicates that inter-ocean
heat transport from the Pacific Ocean to the
Indian Ocean via the Indonesian passages
was the main cause of the increased Indian
OHC{-7}{-0}{-0}; it greatly increased during
2003-2012, overcompensating for the
slightly increased southward heat
transport from the Indian Ocean to the
Southern Ocean.
The study found that the La Nina-like
conditions in the Pacific Ocean, caused by
a number of La Nina events in the last
decade have caused the cooling of the
Pacific ocean by transfer of heat to the
Indian Ocean, warming the latter.
The La Nina conditions cause strong
easterly winds to blow from the western
Pacific Ocean and these winds cause
currents to flow westward conveying the
heat of the Pacific Ocean into the Indian
Ocean through what is known as the
Indonesian Throughflow (ITF).
The easterlies are formed due to a pressure
gradient between the Pacific and Indian
Oceans caused by cold conditions in the
east and warm wet conditions in the west
during a La Nina. Also during a La Nina,
the walker circulation an oceanatmospheric phenomenon of the Indian
Ocean is strengthened.
The walker circulation leads to abnormally
high sea surface temperatures in the
western Indian Ocean which in turn leads
to copious rainfall in the western Indian
225
Ocean at the cost of the Indian subcontinent

and results in a weak monsoon. In contrast
to this, as there were relatively much fewer
La Ninas in the previous decade (1990-99)
there was much less warming in the Indian
Ocean.
80 % Indian diets are protein deficient:
Survey
Ninety per cent Delhiites registered a
protein deficiency in their meal plan, says
a recent survey, which has also indicated
that over 80 per cent of Indian diets are
protein deficient. This implies that most
people are not getting the right amount of
proteins required.
The Indian Market Research Bureau
(IMRB) conducted a consumer survey
across seven major cities titled The protein
consumption in diet of adult Indians by
interviewing 1,260 respondents, which
included males and females (non-pregnant
and lactating) between the age of 30-55
years. Fifty-nine per cent of the sample size
was non-vegetarian.
Dr. Ritika Samaddar, dietician at Max
Healthcare, said: The protein requirement
of an average adult per day is 1 gram per
kg of the body weight. An intake less than
this will lead to difficulty in performing
simple tasks and processing sensory signals by the brain. One of the key symptoms
of lack of proteins is weakness and fatigue.
Based on preference, the food items that
were regarded as the best sources of protein by vegetarians were milk, green leafy
vegetables and pulses, while eggs, fish and
chicken found favour among the non-vegetarians.
The survey also found that 91 per cent of
the vegetarians surveyed were found to
have a higher protein deficiency as compared to 85 per cent of their non-vegetarian counterparts.
It was also found that in the north zone, 98

per cent of the respondents were not aware
of the ideal protein requirement for an
average adult, which is the highest when
compared to other parts of India.
All of them believed that their protein
intake was adequate, the survey noted.
The study also found that 80 per cent of
the respondents were aware of the health
benefits associated with proteins, which
includes strengthening muscles, building
immunity, overcoming fatigue and for
healthy nails and hair, said the
investigators.
Dr. Samaddar added: People fail to
understand the importance of protein
supplements in the daily diet. They tend
to associate protein supplements as being
ideal for body builders or malnourished
people only. It is high time they start
incorporating protein rich food in their diet
otherwise it can lead to serious
repercussions in generations to come.
Maruti to bring in new green technologies to
cut emissions
Car market leader Maruti Suzuki is
planning to bring new green technologies,
which could include parent Suzukis mild
hybrid system and downsized directinjection turbo petrol engine to cut
emissions by enhancing fuel efficiency.
The company said fleet emissions of carbon
dioxide had been down by over 11.6 per
cent in the last five years and it would
continue to work to bring it further down
to promote clean air benefits. This has
been possible through fuel efficiency
improvements, reduction of exhaust
emissions and development of alternate
fuel products during this period, the
company said in a statement.
Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director
226

and CEO, Kenichi Ayukawa said: Going
forward, we will continue our focus on
investing in new technologies and
strengthen our capability to bring down
emissions per vehicle by enhancing fuel
efficiency of our cars.
The recent new models, product upgrades
and even minor changes have been
substantially more fuel efficient than the
outgoing ones. With Auto Gear Shift
technology the company is able to offer the
convenience of an automatic without the
need to emit more, he added.
These future technologies will bring down
emissions while raising vehicle
performance. These technologies could
find relevance in India and the company
may explore these options as per customer
requirements, the company said.
Stempeutics gets Japanese process patent for
stem cell drug
Stempeutics Research has been granted a
process patent from the Japan Patent Office
for its novel stem-cell based drug
Stempeucel.
Stempeutics is part of the Manipal
Education and Medical Group and entered
into a strategic alliance with pharma major,
Cipla in 2009.
A statement from the company said the
novelty covers the method of preparing
master cell banks, working cell banks and
the final therapeutic product Stempeucel
based on the novel pooling technology.
The product will initially be used for
treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI)
and is considered a breakthrough
treatment option as it addresses the root
cause of the disease unlike other drugs
which treat the symptoms, the company
said.
Stempeucel is derived from specific cells
extracted from bone marrow of healthy,

adult voluntary donors. The pooling
approach
allows
an
efficient
manufacturing process with minimum
wastage of resources in order to provide
the product at an affordable cost to patients.
The new patent strengthens our position
in Japan, which has created an accelerated
development path for stem cell therapies,
B.N. Manohar, CEO, Stempeutics, said in
a statement.
The regenerative medicine law
implemented in Japan allows conditional
approval of stem cell products thereby
enabling more rapid entry into the Japanese
market. We are actively evaluating the
potential for accelerated development of
Stempeucel product for CLI and
Osteoarthritis indications in Japan with
strategic collaborations.
Earlier, Stempeucel received Orphan Drug
Designation in the European Union to treat
Thromoboangiitis Obliterans and
Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product
(ATMP) classification from European
Medicines Agency. In March, Stempeutics
had received a process patent from the US
Patent & Trademarks Office. The
companys application to sell the product
in the domestic market is awaiting
approval from the Drug Controller General
of India (DCGI).
INS Vikrant undocked at Cochin shipyard
India crossed a major milestone in defence
shipbuilding when the maiden indigenous
aircraft carrier INS Vikrant was undocked
on completion of structural work at the
State-owned Cochin shipyard.
The Navy is slated to take delivery of the
carrier by 2018.
Senior officials and workers of the yard
were present when tugs pulled the
227
behemoth, weighing about 26,000 tonnes

at the moment, out of the dry dock where
it was undergoing construction for about a
year-and-a-half after its launch in August,
2013.
The undocking was done after a series of
postponements caused by a glitch with the
dock gate operation and siltation at the
dock mouth. The flooding of the dock and
ballasting of the ship had begun on
Monday itself.
Once the vessel was floated over eight
metres of water pumped into the dock, the
floodgate was overturned and the carrier
was pulled by tugs into the Kochi channel.
Sources said the carrier will now be
outfitted for over a year-and-a-half before
the basin trials begin, likely in 2017,
succeeded by sea trials ahead of delivery.
Almost 90 per cent of work below the
fourth deck all underwater works is
over. Cabling, piping, electrical works, and
heat and ventilation works will take place
now. Delivery of systems and components
for the aviation complex designed by the
Russian Nevoske design bureau is
expected anytime now, said an official.
The undocking is part of the second phase
of work on the carrier, which is expected
to be over by 2017.
The carrier was designed indigenously by
the Directorate of Naval Design (DND).
Its a rare feat. In fact, the Navy has a
protracted history of indigenisation of
vessels and the DND has done
commendable work by developing over 18
designs, including that of the carrier, said
a shipyard official.
60-member team to probe Eastern Star

sinking
China has assembled a team of 60
investigators to look into last weeks river
cruise ship sinking following orders from

President Xi Jinping to find the cause of the
countrys worst maritime disaster in nearly
seven decades.
Just 14 people survived the capsizing of the
Eastern Star on the evening of June 1 as the
ship was carrying 456 people, many of
them elderly tourists, on a cruise to the
Yangtze River port of Chongqing.
Authorities have attributed the sinking to
a freak storm that generated tornado-like
winds, but also have placed the surviving
captain and his first engineer in police
custody.
Extensive interviews have been conducted
with surviving crew members, witnesses,
those who designed and modified the ship
and others, state broadcaster CCTV
reported on Wednesday. It said 60
specialists have been gathered for the
investigative team.
Video footage and other evidence have
been obtained from the ship, and weather,
radar and other data was being analysed
for indications of what went wrong.
The disaster left 442 people dead or
missing.
Smart cities scheme to take off on June 25

India has asked all the countries keen on
partnering with it in the smart cities
initiative to ready the blueprints for the
projects they want to undertake, to avoid
delay in execution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
announce the scheme along with the Atal
Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation on June 25. So far, 14
countries have shown interest in sharing
their expertise in building components that
are prerequisites for a smart city.
Sources said each State will be given a
month to draw up a list of cities eligible
228

for works under the scheme. Each State will
have at least one smart city, with the bigger
States being eligible for 10.
The total number across the country will
be 100. Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh have signed agreements
with the U.S. for non-financial assistance;
some agreements have been inked with
Sweden and China, but work will pick up
by end of July, a government official told.
Denmark is the latest to join the list of
countries that have offered know-how in
building smart cities.
Global M&E Industry: India leads digital
drive
For a change, India is found leading the
world in virtualisation of content in the
Media and Entertainment (M&E) business
thereby creating an edge in this domain.
Indias top M&E companies namely Star
India, Zee Entertainment, Sony and Colors
have already adopted the digital mode in
key workflow processes across the supply
chain, two years ahead their western
counterparts thus sharply increasing the
output of their executives engaged in
content creation and saving 30 to 40 per
cent on cost.
In this digital drive by moving their content
to the cloud, these firms are now able to
have real time collaboration in the areas of
production and distribution, reach out to
their overseas customers in a few hours of
the local telecast, supply video on demand
to customers and prevent piracy.
India went from paper to paperless in the
90s, the manufacturing sector embraced
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) during
the same time to transform its processes
and the banking sector underwent drastic
changes by adopting information
technology in a big way but the M&E sector
functioned the way it was.

Considering that M&E business never had
a big craze for technology adoption, Indian
M&E companies, which had skipped
technology generations are now actually
leading the revolution across the world,
according experts.
While Star India adopted the digital
process in all its workflow, the equivalent
of ERP in manufacturing, in April 2011,
others gradually followed and are now 18
to 24 months ahead of their global peers.
To put things in prospective M&E
companies from the U.K. and the U.S. are
adopting media ERP only now.
With the change, M&E executives are now
able to live in the physical world and work
on several content forms in the virtual
world available on digital devices without
being actually present at every location, be
it the place of shooting, studio or editing
room. They are now able to access unedited
or edited video anytime and place of their
choice.
This has been made possible by an Indian
company called Prime Focus Technologies
(PFT), a part of the worlds largest
integrated media services company Prime
Focus Ltd., which has aggregated the
diverse stakeholders of the TV/advertising
industry on a single virtual platform shared
by broadcasters, production houses, ad
creative and media agencies.
With the introduction of the digital media
supply
chain
content
creation,
dissemination and distribution process has
become more creatively enabled. Real time
collaboration is helping in the creation of
better content and instant interaction has
enhanced the process of content creation.
This media ERP is driving efficiencies and
is helping in reduction of cycle time. It has
also enabled newer revenue streams apart
229
from curbing piracy. It has led to contextual

advertising and enabling internet
platforms to intelligently engage users, said
experts.
The benefits are so alluring that now 85 per
cent of the scripted television in Hollywood
is using PFTs solutions.
In an era of the death of appointment
viewing, Mr. Sankaranarayanan said, The
next phase of evolution is Digital Next
Realities where content providers have to
engage customers with a better experience
anytime anyplace. The success of Hotstar
app by Star India with 1.4 crore downloads
shows that Indians are now ready to
consume content whenever wherever they
want so broadcasters will have to make it
accessible in the relevant preferred
devices.
Ideas that make life easy, on show at IITBombay
From a portable, foldable boat to low-cost
toilets, an array of interesting ideas and
designs by students of the Industrial
Design Centre of the Indian Institute of
Technology, Bombay, have been
showcased at the Design Degree Show on
the campus.
The five-day show, which began on
Saturday, showcases 190 degree projects by
56 students of the centre across the broad
themes of Craft and Culture; Access and
Transportation; Health and Well- Being;
Society and Analysis; Communication and
Learning; and Working and Living India.
The portable boat by Tonmoy Phukan, 24,
a second year student of Mobility and
Vehicle Design, can ferry 16 people to
safety during floods. I was strongly
motivated by the catastrophic effect of the
floods in Assam in 2014. There are very
limited ways to rescue victims, and there
is no boat specially designed for flood
rescue, Mr. Phukan says.

He designed a stackable inflatable boat,
Erawan , which can house a collapsible
roof, lifejackets, pedals and first-aid kits.
Passengers are protected from floating
debris and side impact. A ladder on the
boat will help reach people on the higher
floors, he says.
Trivikram Annamalai, 24, Industrial
Design student, has come up with a device
to detect veins easily for injections. The
thought of getting injected traumatises
many, and when you have to undergo
multiple attempts of needle insertions, its
nightmarish. Mr. Annamalai says.
The low-cost vein detector helps nurses
visualise a vein and puncture it with ease.
A prototype has been developed, and pilottesting is in progress, he says.
Keerti Chowdhry, 25, an Animation and
Film Design student, designed an animated
dictionary for dyslexic children.
Spellings and comprehension have
always been arch-enemies of children who
have learning disabilities. My project aims
to help them with spellings, reading and
comprehension by combining sight words
and phonic system and creating new ways
to learn, she says.
The designs on show include an interactive
kiosk, which employs face detection and
delivers personalised advertisement, a
light-weight foldable electric bike, and a
water-fetching aid, which can hold vessels
of multiple sizes.
Amita Sharma, Senior Consultant in
Educational Consultants India Ltd., Union
Human Resource Development Ministry,
inaugurated the show.
PSLV-C27 Successfully Launches

Indias Fourth Navigation Satellite IRNSS1D
230

ISROs Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle,
PSLV-C27, successfully launched the 1425
kg IRNSS-1D, the fourth satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System
(IRNSS) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the twenty
eighth consecutively successful mission of
the PSLV. The XL configuration of PSLV
was used for this mission. Previously, the
same configuration of the vehicle was successfully used seven times.
IRNSS-1D is the fourth of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS-1A, 1B and 1C, the first three
satellites of the constellation, were successfully launched by PSLV on July 02, 2013,
April 04, 2014 and October 16, 2014 respectively. All the three satellites are functioning satisfactorily from their designated orbital positions.
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide
position information in the Indian region
and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.
IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Services (SPS) - provided to all users - and
Restricted Services (RS), provided to
authorised users.
In the coming months, the next satellite of
this constellation, namely,IRNSS-1E, is
scheduled to be launched by PSLV. The
entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2016.
Researchers Discovers Rare Huntsman and
Jumping Spider in the Western Ghats
Researchers have discovered rare
huntsman and jumping spider in the
Western Ghats belong to the Sparassidae
and Salticidae families. They were
discovered by the research team of
arachnologists led by Dr. P.A. Sebastian,
Director of the Division of Arachnology in

Sacred Heart College, Kochi in Kerala.
Huntsman spider- It was sighted at
Ponmudi, Thiruvananthapuram district of
Kerala. These spiders are known for their
speed and unique hunting mode.
Sometimes they hide in the ambush and
surprise the prey. Some of these spiders
make a substrate-borne sound when they
detect a chemical left by a nearby female
of their species.
Jumping spider- It was sighted at the
Malayattoor and Bhoothathankettu reserve
forest. These spiders jump from one place
to another like a grasshopper. The jumping
spider was given the name Stenaelurillus
albus due to the presence of a unique
whitish area on the copulatory organ of the
male spider. The discovery is considered
unique as only 17 species of jumping spider
having mating plugs have been reported
of the approximate 5,800 jumping spiders
recorded.
Union Government
Give its nod to build AWACS
Union Government on 27 Mach 2015 gave
its approval to build crore strategic project
of next-generation Airborne Warning and
Control Systems (AWACS). Decision in this
regard was taken by Defence Acquisition
Council (DAC) headed by Union Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar. DAC gave its
nod for two AWACS, which includes
buying two Airbus A330s, worth 5,113
crore rupees. Airbus was the lone bidder
for the programme.
Indian AEW&C System
The indigenous Airborne Early Warning

and Control (AEW&C) is an effort to evolve
a compact state-of-the-art airborne
surveillance system for the Indian Airforce
to mark a significant contribution to
231
Defence preparedness by the DRDO with

CABS (Bangalore) spearheading the
programme as a nodal agency. The
indigenous AEW&C is a multi-sensor
system on a executive jet aircraft providing
for all aspects of airborne surveillance.
The Capabilities, Operational Role &
Functional Requirements: The Indian
AEW&C system will detect, identify and
classify threats present in the surveillance
area and act as a Command and Control
Centre to support Air Defence operations,
like AWACS. The system with its multiple
Communication and Data Links can alert
and direct fighters against threats while
providing ?Recognizable Air Surveillance
Picture? (RASP) to commanders at the
Ground Exploitation Stations (GES) that are
strategically located. The AEW&C system
can thus support Air Force in offensive
strike missions and assist Forces in the
tactical battle area. Besides, the Electronic
and Communication Support Measures of
the system can intercept and gather
ELINT/COMINT
from
radar
transmissions and communication signals.
The AEW&C is a multi-sensor surveillance
system that can perform the following
operational roles as defined by the IAF:
Air Space management
Detection of Air-Borne and Surface targets
Electronic Intelligence
Detection, Identification, Threat Assessment and Interception of Airborne threat
9th Edition of Earth Hour
To show their growing concern over
climate change, people all over the globe
observed the ninth edition of Earth Hour
on (March 28, 2015) by switching off their
lights.
All the electrical appliances were put off
for one hour between 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm

in order to increase awareness. Earth Hour
is an annual campaign started by the WWF
(World Wide Fund for Nature/World
Wildlife Fund).
The campaign pushes for households and
business establishments across the world
to turn off their non-essential lights and
electrical appliances for an hour at the
selected time to raise awareness towards
the need to take action on climate change.
About Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots

movement uniting people to protect the
planet, and is organised by WWF. Earth
Hour was famously started as a lights-off
event in Sydney, Australia in 2007.
Earth Hour aims to encourage an interconnected global community to share the opportunities and challenges of creating a
sustainable world.
Earth Hour only asks people to turn off
the non-essential lights for one hour - not
lights that affect public safety. Earth Hour
is also a celebration of the planet so its
important to enjoy the moment in a safe
environment.
Earth Hour event always held in late
March, because last weekend of March is
around the time of the Spring and Autumn
equinoxes in the northern and southern
hemispheres respectively, which allows
for near coincidental sunset times in both
hemispheres, thereby ensuring the greatest visual impact for a global lights out
event.
Earth Hour came from a think tank initiated by Earth Hour CEO and Co-Founder,
Andy Ridley, resulting in the formation of
a partnership between WWF Australia,
Leo Burnett and Fairfax Media to address
the climate change issue.
The standard Earth Hour 60 logo represents the 60 minutes of Earth Hour where
232

we focus on the impact we are having on
our planet and take positive action to address the environmental issues we face.
For Earth Hour 2011 the 60+ logo was
introduced representing a commitment to
add to Earth Hour a positive act for the
planet that goes beyond the hour. Take up
the plus and get involved with Earth Hour
Blue.
WWF Uganda started the worlds first
Earth Hour Forest
Indias First Remotely Operated Vehicle

Operationalises in Atlantic
After two months of successful trials,
Indias Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle
(PROVe), indigenously built by National
Institute of Ocean Technology, was
operationalised for research today in North
Antarctica.
PROVe had been undergoing trial in
Antarctica for the past two months since
its deployment by the NIOT in
Priyadarshini lake on the Schirmacher
Oasis, which is a source of water for Mait
Indias second base in the icy continent.
PROVe has been fitted with sensors to
measure various parameters including
temperature, conductivity, depth and
dissolved oxygen. Apart from cameras, the
vehicle has sonar (a meter that measures
light penetration), water sampler and
bottom corer to collect samples from the
seabed. Scientists involved in the project
said they would also study the flora and
fauna in the ocean and measure the
thickness of the ice shelf and other floating
ice called ice floes. An ice corer will be used
to collect samples of ice which could be
millions of years old.
World Health DayVector Borne diseases
April 7, 2014 marks World Health Day and
the 66th anniversary of the World Health

Organization (WHO). This years theme is
vector-borne diseases.
Over half the worlds population is at risk
from vector-borne diseases such as malaria
and dengue. Vectors like mosquitoes, ticks,
and fleas transmit parasites, viruses, or
bacteria between people or between
animals and people. Each World Health
Day, the World Health Organization
(WHO) selects a theme that highlights a
global public health issue. This years
theme is vector-borne diseases, with a firsttime focus on dengue.
Vector-borne diseases account for 17% of
the estimated global burden of all
infectious diseases. Global trade, rapid
international travel, and environmental
changes such as climate change and
urbanization are causing vectors and
vector-borne diseases to spread beyond
borders. Many neglected tropical diseases,
including dengue, Chagas disease,
leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, and
onchocerciasis are vector-borne; other
vector-borne diseases include typhus and
spotted fevers.
Forty percent of the worlds population is
at risk from dengue virus; there are an
estimated 390 million dengue infections
each year in over 100 countries. Dengue is
the worlds fastest growing vector-borne
disease, with a 30-fold increase in disease
incidence over the last 50 years. Southeast
Asia and Latin America are especially
affected but dengue also occurs in Africa,
where cases are less-often diagnosed.
Malaria is a vector-borne disease that is one
of the most severe public health problems
worldwide. It is a leading cause of death
and disease in many developing countries,
where young children and pregnant
women are the groups most affected. The
233
WHO estimates that in 2012, there were 207

million cases of malaria and 627,000 people
died of malaria. Most deaths were among
children in Africa.
ISRO Develop
Flood Hazard Atlas
The Indian Space Research Organization
has developed a Flood Hazard Atlas by
mapping flood prone and vulnerable areas
in Assam.
Atlas have been divided into 3 categories
and accordingly district administrations
will prepare action plan on relief and
evacuation in advance.
Giving details on the Flood Hazard Atlas,
Deputy Commissioner of Morigaon said
that it will help people know the level of
water flow through early warning system.
He said that concerned authority will get
alert and places of evacuation and relief
camps will be identified. Also, people of a
particular area will be alerted based on rain
and waterfall. Lakhs of people are rendered
homeless in Assam due to flood almost
every year.
UNCTAD e-Waste Report 2014
As per recently released Global E-Waste
Monitor 2014 report by United Nations,
India is the fifth biggest producer of ewaste in the world. The report was
compiled by UN think tank United Nations
University (UNU).
Key facts from report
Top 5 e-waste producing nations: US,

China, Japan, Germany and India.
In case of wealthy nations top 5 e-waste
producers are Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and United Kingdom.
US and China have produced the most ewaste in 2014. Both nations account for
32 percent of total e-waste produced in the
world in 2014.
India has discarded around 1.7 million
tonnes (Mt) of e-waste in 2014.
In 2014, around 41.8 Mt of e-waste was
produced all over world and it is expected
to rise by 21 percent to 50 million Mt in
2018.
In terms of continent wise, Asia has produced most e-waste per inhabitant in year
2014 by producing 16 Mt i.e. 3.7 kg per
inhabitant.
Top three Asian e-waste producing nations
are- China (6.0Mt), Japan (2.2Mt) and India (1.7Mt). While, Africa has generated
lowest amount of e-waste per inhabitant
by producing 9 Mt i.e. 1.7 kg per inhabitant.
About e-waste
E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste

streams in developed as well as in
developing countries. Due to the fact that
the life span of computers has dropped in
developed countries from six years in 1997
to just two years in 2005, and mobile
phones have a lifespan of even less than
two years, the amount of generated e-waste
per year grows rapidly. This has a major
impact on developing countries as
loopholes in the current Waste Electrical
and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
Directives allow the export of e-waste from
developed to developing countries (70% of
the collected WEEE ends up in unreported
and largely unknown destinations).
Inappropriate methods like open burning,
which are often used by the informal sector
in developing countries to recover valuable
materials, have heavy impacts on human
health and the environment. Harmful
emissions of hazardous substances mainly
come from:
1. The product itself (if landfilled): Lead in
circuit boards or cathode ray tube (CRT)
glass, mercury in liquid crystal display
234

(LCD) backlights.
2. Substandard processes: Dioxin formation
during burning of halogenated plastics or
use of smelting processes without suitable
off-gas treatment
3. Reagents used in the recycling process:
cyanide and other strong leaching acids,
nitrogen oxides (NOx) gas from leaching
processes and mercury from amalgamation
To mainstream and disseminate
environmentally sound management of ewaste in developing countries, the work
plan for the focal area on e-waste proposes
to develop sustainable business plans
which will include an effective take-back
system, a manual dismantling facility, local
pre-processing activities and sound endprocessing activities. These activities will
be undertaken in close cooperation with
other partners working in this field. The
focal area on e-waste is led by the United
Nations
Industrial
Development
Organization (UNIDO).
Newly Discovered Spices
Named After Telangana
This type of spiders from the Thomisidae

family, resemble crabs morphologically,
and thus, they are commonly known as
crab spiders. This Telangana species has an
affinity to move sideways, similarly to
crabs, but they had been also called flower
crab spiders because these creatures hunt
their prey on mostly flowering plants.
The species are closely related to Thomisus
labefactus, crab spiders originating from
Japan. Both scientists are dedicating this
new line of species to honor all the students
and people who had given up their own
lives for Telanganas cause.
The spiders of Thomisidae family are not
known to be harmful to humans at least
the known ones. Both scientists prove that
it is still a big, big world out there, and there
are more species yet to be discovered, and
hopefully, more governments and agencies
will support their endeavor and research.
The researchers also noted that these crab
spiders, as of the moment, had been found
locally at Nagnur only.
INS Alleppey decommissioned
A new species of crab spiders, has been

named after the Telangana state in India.
Two taxonomy and wildlife scientists from
the Zoology Division at Osmania
University stumbled upon female crab
spiders during a scientific expedition at
Nagnur, located in the district of
Karimnagar.
In the newly published copy of an
international journal on taxonomy and
conservation known as the Journal of
Threatened Taxa (JoTT), junior researcher
G.B. Pravalikha, together with Assistant
Professor C. Srinivasulu, described how the
Telangana crab spider is biologically
different from other crab spiders by
illustrating its female genital structure
along with other distinguishing characters.
INS Alleppey , one of the six Ponchicherry

class coastal minesweepers purchased from
the erstwhile USSR in the 1970s,
decommissioned at sunset after nearly 35
years of service under the Western Naval
Command.
After INS Alleppey s decommissioning,
the Indian Navy will be left with six other
operational minesweeper vessels.
The ship was decommissioned by Rear
Admiral MS Pawar, Flag Officer
Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat
Naval Area at Mumbai Naval Dockyard.
ISROs launcher assembly unit gets Rs. 120
crore
ISROs proposal for having a second facility
235
to assemble launchers at Sriharikota has got

a Rs. 120-crore Budget boost.
The amount is the first big allocation for
additional infrastructure since it was
approved in late 2013.
Estimated at Rs. 360 crore, the second
Vehicle Assembly Building (SVAB) was
conceived to increase the number of
satellite launches from the Satish Dhawan
Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota.
M.Y.S. Prasad, Director of SDSC, said the
project was going through a multiple
tendering process to choose agencies that
would build it over the next two years.
The SDSC has got a separate allocation of
Rs. 559 crores.
NASA launches 4 spacecraft to solve

magnetic mystery
NASA has launched four identical
spacecraft on a billion-dollar mission to
study the explosive give-and-take of the
Earth and suns magnetic fields.
The unmanned Atlas rocket, and NASAs
Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft,
soared into a clear late-night sky, right on
time. Within two hours, all four
observatories were flying free.
The quartet of observatories is being placed
into an oblong orbit stretching tens of
thousands of miles into the magnetosphere,
nearly halfway to the moon at one point.
They will fly in pyramid formation,
between 6 miles (10 kilometres) and 250
miles (402 kilometres) apart, to provide 3D views of magnetic reconnection on the
smallest of scales.
Magnetic reconnection is what happens
when magnetic fields like those around
Earth and the sun come together, break
apart, then come together again, releasing
vast energy.
This repeated process drives the aurora, as

well as solar storms that can disrupt
communications and power on Earth.
Data from this two-year mission should
help scientists better understand so-called
space weather.
Each observatory resembles a giant
octagonal wheel, stretching more than 11
feet (3.35 meters) across and 4 feet (1.22
meters) high, and weighing 3,000 pounds
(1,360.79 kilogrammes) apiece.
Numbered and stacked like tires on top of
the rocket for launch, No 4 popped free first
more than an hour after liftoff, followed
every five minutes by another.
Theyre all healthy and turned on.
Essentially, were all green and headed into
our mission, said NASA project manager
Craig Tooley.
Once the long, sensor-laden booms are
extended in a few days, each spacecraft
could span a baseball field.
Principal investigator Jim Burch from the
Southwest Research Institute in San
Antonio said measurements will be made
down to the electron scale, significantly
smaller than previous heliophysics
missions.
In all, there are 100 science sensors. Primary
science-gathering will begin this summer,
following a five-month checkout.
The findings from the USD 1.1 billion
mission will be useful in understanding
magnetic reconnection throughout the
universe.
Closer to home, space weather scientists
along with everyone on Earth hopefully
will benefit.
Malaria: people with blood group A more
vulnerable to severe disease
A protein produced by some strains of the
236
malaria parasite can cause red blood cells,

especially in blood group A individuals, to
form clumps, thereby increasing the
severity of disease, according to research
just published.
When certain strains of Plasmodium
falciparum , the single-celled parasite that
is responsible for the most dangerous forms
of malaria, get into red blood cells, those
cells start sticking to other red blood cells
as well as to walls of blood vessels.
The resulting obstruction to blood flow can
damage tissues and lead to severe malaria
that is life-threatening.
Previous research had implicated the P.
falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein
1 (PfEMP1) in red blood cells forming
clumps. (Such clumps are called rosettes).
Once the parasite infects red blood cells,
this protein that it produces appears on the
outer surface of those cells. The protein
then latches on to receptor molecules found
on other red blood cells, creating rosettes.
However, when PfEMP1 was removed
from red blood cell surfaces using enzymes,
rosette-formation was reduced only in
those of blood group O but not blood group
A.
This indicated that PfEMP1 may not be the
only molecule involved in rosette
formation, noted a Scandinavian team of
scientists in a Nature Medicine paper.
With a series of experiments, the team
showed that another protein could have a
hand too, principally affecting individuals
of blood group A.
The RIFINs too are secreted by the parasite
and then get to the surface of red blood
cells. There are 150 rif genes that carry the
genetic information for RIFINs.
One P. falciparum parasite examined by the
team carried 85 such genes, but with just
one of those genes being responsible for
much of the RIFINs it produced.

The RIFINs were thought to act as decoys,
making it difficult for the human immune
system to detect and destroy parasiteinfected red blood cells, commented G.
Padmanabhan of the Indian Institute of
Science in Bangalore, who has studied the
malaria parasite over many decades but
was not involved in the research that led
to the Nature Medicine paper.
Those cells, with the RIFIN protein on their
surface, bound large numbers of group A
RBCs [red blood cells], the scientists noted
in their paper.
The rosette formation with group O RBCs
was less pronounced. Moreover, when
molecular tags that marked RBCs as
belonging to group A were removed, their
binding to cells bearing RIFIN were similar
to those of group O.
Only RIFINs of sub-group A, which
accounts for about 70 per cent of these
proteins, led to rosettes being formed.
The protection offered by blood group O
could explain why the blood type is so
common in the areas where malaria is
common, said Mats Wahlgren, the studys
principal investigator, in a press release.
Oldest primitive animal fossil found in

China
Scientists have discovered the earliest and
most credible primitive animal fossil in
600-million-year-old rocks in southwest
China, media reports say.
The research led by Chinese scientists
described a well-preserved, rice grainsized primitive sponge fossil in the
Guizhou Province, a Xinhua report said.
Its the worlds earliest and most credible
fossil record of primitive animal bodies,
said the lead author of the research,
Maoyan Zhu, of the Nanjing Institute of
237
Geology and Palaeontology.

The discovery will help remove doubts
whether animals have emerged on earth
600 million years ago, Mr. Maoyan said.
The fossilised animal, slightly more than
1.2-mm wide and 1.1-mm tall, displays
many characteristics of modern adult
sponges, an analysis based on advanced
imaging techniques found.
The specimen is composed of hundreds of
thousands of cells, and has a structure
consisting of three adjacent hollow tubes
sharing a common base, the researchers
said.
Natco to launch Hepatitis C drug in India
soon
Natco Pharma plans to launch the generic
version of Sovaldi, the blockbuster drug
used to treat chronic Hepatitis C in India
soon.
Sovaldi is made by U.S. pharma major
Gilead Sciences, and Natco recently entered
into a non-exclusive licensing agreement
with Gilead to make and sell generic
versions of Sovaldi in 91 developing
countries.
The company, launched the generic version
of Sovaldi in Nepal under the brand
Hepcinat. The product is priced at
Rs.19,900 per bottle of 28 tablets in Nepal,
and covers the treatment duration of three
months for a patient.
Gileads compound sofosbuvir is a
breakthrough treatment for Hepatitis C, a
disease affecting the liver. If untreated, it
can cause liver cirrhosis or liver cancer and
has a high mortality rate.
Sovaldi with a 90 per cent cure rate for
Hepatitis C, was introduced in the U.S. in
November 2013 priced at $84,000 per
patient.
In India Hepcinat will be priced as in

Nepal, which is a fraction of the price
Gilead prices it in developed markets. As
per the agreement with Gilead, Natco will
pay Gilead royalty at 7 per cent of billing
price.
In an unrelated development, the U.S.
Supreme Court declined a review of a
federal circuit court which had ruled in
favour of Natco Pharma in a patent
infringement litigation over Tamiflu, a
drug used to treat swine flu. Natco has
partnered with Alvogen in the U.S. to
market the product.
A statement from Natco said it was
pleased with the U.S. Supreme Courts
decision to deny certiorari for the generic
version of Tamiflu oral capsules
(oseltamivir phosphate).
Natco had received a tentative approval on
March 14, 2014, for Oseltamivir Phosphate
Capsules USP, 30 mg, 45 mg and 75 mg on
the Abbreviated New Drug Application
containing a paragraph IV certification
filed
with
the
U.S. FDA.
India can shape the future of Internet, says
ICANN chief
With next billion people on the Internet
likely to come from India, Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) CEO Fadi Chehad
said the country had the power to shape
the future of Internet.
ICANN, a non-profit organisation, is the
global body that oversees operation and
administration of the Internet domain
name system.
He added since his last visit to the country
in October 2013, Indias place at the global
level has taken a new energy that is
remarkable.
238

Mr. Chehad said India plays an important
role in making sure things are run in the
right direction in digital economy. Its
shaping how digital economy would look
like, not tomorrow, but 10 years form now
because the next billion people who will
share the Internet will come from here...
you will shape the future of internet, he
said.
Meanwhile, speaking at the same event,
Communications and IT Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad said the future architecture
of the Web should not be a prerogative of
a few and should be open to all.
He added that Internet must be equitable,
effective, open-for-all and no one should
be able to claim early arrival benefit.
Google may jump into virtual reality race
A team of engineers at Google is reportedly
working to build a version of the Android
operating system to power virtual-reality
applications.
The move comes on the heels of Facebooks
$2 billion purchase of Oculus VR. The Wall
Street Journal quoted two people familiar with the project as saying that Google
has tens of engineers and other staff
working on the project.
Google plans to freely distribute the new
operating system, they said, mimicking a
strategy that has made Android the most
popular OS for smartphones.
The project is speculative, because no virtual-reality devices are yet shipping in
large numbers.
MH370 report: Air Traffic Control supervisor
was sleeping on duty
The Air Traffic Control (ATC) supervisor
was asleep on duty during the crucial hours
following the disappearance of Malaysia
Airlines Flight MH370 last year, an interim
report into the tragedy has said.
Released a year after the Boeing 777-200

went missing, transcripts of conversation
between Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic
Controller and a Malaysia Airlines (MAS)
official have showed that between 1.20 a.m.
local time when communications from
the flight had ceased and 5.20 a.m., the
supervisor was asleep.
A controller started the four-minute-long
conversation with the MAS official at 5.20
a.m. when he repeatedly pressed the
former for details, especially whether there
was any positive handover between Kuala
Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre and Ho
Chi Minh City air traffic control.
The MAS officials persistent request for
information led the controller to say that
he would wake his supervisor up.
The controller replied he only took over
tower operations after 3 a.m., and was not
sure about the details, Star Online reported.
The report said air traffic controllers in
Vietnams Ho Chi Minh City air traffic
control took 20 minutes to ask why the
plane had not yet entered its airspace when
international protocols demand this should
take place within two minutes.
The report has also found that the battery
powering the underwater locator beacon
on the aircraft had expired in 2012.
The nearly 600-page interim report
submitted yesterday on the anniversary of
the flights disappearance, however, does
not cast any suspicion on the crew.
Termed an oversight by investigators,
the battery expiry could be key in legal
action against Malaysia Airlines and in
determining compensation, the paper said.
Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 last
year while en route from Kuala Lumpur to
Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on
board. There were five Indians on the flight.
The plane is believed to have ended its
239
journey in the southern Indian Ocean.

A year-long, Australia-led search effort in
the southern Indian Ocean where the
aircraft is believed to have crashed has so
far yielded no sign of the plane.
Malaysias Department of Civil Aviation
(DCA) on January 29 had declared the
planes disappearance an accident.
247 drug store in three months

Foundation stone was laid for the muchawaited 24x7 generic and other medicines
store on the Government Wenlock hospital
premises.
The new medical store, called
Janasanjeevini Medical Centre, operated by
Union governments HLL Life Care
Limited, will come up in the 700 squarefoot space next to the dilapidated jail ward
of the hospital.
The Health and Family Welfare Minister
U.T. Khader Minister said the State
government had fulfilled most of the
promises made when the government was
formed.
He said the government giving final shape
to providing free treatment to the extent of
Rs. 25,000 for road accident victims in the
first 48 hours of admission to hospital.
The bike ambulance facility would also be
launched soon.
MP and senior Congress leader Oscar
Fernandes earlier handed to the Wenlock
Hospital Superintendent Rajeshwari Devi,
the keys of a hearse van donated by
SASVAT Foundation. U.T. Fareed
Foundation will maintain and operate
the vehicle.
Census records increase in wildlife at Point
Calimere
The dry deciduous evergreen forest, spread
over an area of 35 sq. km. at Kodiyakkarai
near Vedaranyam, has recorded an increase

in wildlife census when compared to last
year, thanks to the intensification of antipoaching activities, proper water
management, and conducive habitat for
animals
and
birds
by
the
Forest Department.
The department staff along with college
students of AVC Engineering College at
Mayiladuthurai and Government Arts and
Science College at Poompuhar conducted
one-day wildlife census at Point Calimere
Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary at
Kodiyakkarai on February 28.
Over 50 students and 20 forest officials
undertook this census. They were divided
into 18 groups and conducted the exercise
in 18 transit lines.
The Forest Ranger of Vedaranyam, V.
Gobinath, told The Hindu that the
department has identified 948 bucks, 117
spotted deer, 172 horses, 77 monkeys, 82
wild boars, 12 black napped hares, 20
jackals, and 1,525 fruit-bearing bats.
The department has recorded an overall 10
per cent increase in the wildlife when
compared to last year.
The Government has allocated Rs. 2.70 lakh
for the construction of water troughs at
Kathan Odai, Aruvankanni, S-curve, and
a few other places to quench the thirst of
animals and birds under Tamil Nadu
Biodiversity Greening Project. Now, the
sanctuary has 17 water troughs to provide
water to animals and birds in the ensuing
summer.
Lessons learnt as hunt for MH370 marks one

year
The hunt for Flight MH370 has failed to
turn up any debris, but its unprecedented
scale in one of the worlds remotest
locations has provided valuable lessons for
240
future search and rescue missions.

The Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared
en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on
March 8, 2014, with mourning families and
friends of the 239 people on board still
waiting to hear what happened 12 months
later.
There has been no trace of the Boeing
airliner despite an extensive air and sea
search.
Four ships, coordinated by Australia,
continue to scour a huge underwater area
at least 1,600 kilometres from the nearest
piece of land in a stretch of the Indian
Ocean previously only mapped by satellite.
The MH370 search jointly funded by
Australia and Malaysia with a budget of
US$93 million is focused on a 60,000
square kilometre priority area and is
scheduled to end in May.
The search area is so remote that the four
vessels involved Fugro Supporter, Fugro
Equator, Fugro Discovery and GO Phoenix
need up to six days to reach it from the
Australian port of Fremantle, where they
routinely refuel and restock.
While at sea, they frequently encounter
conditions similar to the Roaring Forties
north of Antarctica, winds that whip up
mountainous seas.
Microsoft unveils Lumia 640, 640 XL

Microsoft unveiled two new smartphones
Lumia 640 and Lumia 640 XL as it
aims to strengthen its position in the
affordable smart phone segment, especially
in developing countries such as India.
While Lumia 640 XL will begin rolling out
globally in March, Lumia 640 will be
available starting April. Both devices will
be available in single-SIM and dual-SIM
(3G & 4G) variants.
Pricing will vary by market and operator.

Lumia 640 is estimated to be around 139
euro (about Rs.9,700) for the 3G model and
159 euro (about Rs.11,000) for the LTE
model, before taxes and subsidies.
Lumia 640 XL will be around 189 euro
(about Rs.13,000) for 3G and 219 euro
(about Rs.15,200) for LTE, before taxes and
subsidies, Microsoft Devices Group
Executive Vice President Stephen Elop
said.
Both smartphones are upgradeable to
Windows 10, which will be available later
this year.
The devices come with a one-year
personal subscription to Office365,
enabling the full Office experience on the
Lumia as well as one tablet and one PC/
Mac.
The Lumia 640 comes with 5-inch HD
display, 1.2GHz quad core Qualcomm
Snapdragon processor, Windows Phone 8.1
with Lumia Denim operating system, 8 MP
rear and 1 MP front facing cameras, 8GB
internal memory (30 GB free OneDrive and
micro SD support up to 128 GB) and 2,500
mAh battery.
The Lumia 640 XL has a 5.7-inch display,
13 MP rear and 5 MP front cameras and
3,000 mAh battery.
Air Force to get 38 more Pilatus basic
trainers
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC)
chaired by Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar cleared a follow-on order for 38
Pilatus basic trainer aircraft for the Air
Force in addition to appointing Goa
Shipyard Ltd. as the lead agency to build
12 Mine Counter-Measure Vessels
(MCMV) for the Navy.
The Air Force has projected a requirement
of 181 basic trainer aircraft. As many as 75
241
Pilatus aircraft were procured from

Switzerland in 2012 and 38 cleared on
Saturday. The remaining 68 will be
supplied by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
(HAL) by the indigenous development of
HTT-40 aircraft.
Officials added that the progress of the
project would be monitored by a committee
that would periodically report to the DAC.
The earlier global tender for eight MCMVs
was scrapped after allegations of
corruption. The process would start from
scratch now.
There would be a Buy and Make
category under the procurement procedure
and the GSL would build the ships under
transfer of technology with a foreign
vendor in a deal worth about Rs. 32,000
crore.
The GSL had already invested Rs. 500 crore
to develop the required facilities, the
officials informed.
One C-130 would be acquired for Rs. 533
crore from the U.S. to replace the one that
crashed in 2014. The crash killed five
personnel, including four officers.
Govt. staff barred from using private e-mail

for official purposes
Government employees have been barred
from using private e-mail services for
official communications.
Users shall refrain from using private email servers from government network. Email service authorised by the government
and implemented by the IA (Implementing
Agency under this policy is NIC) shall only
be used for all official correspondence,
said the policy on use of IT resources
notified .
The new policy also bars officials from
using forward option in e-mails to nongovernment e-mail services.
The e-mail services provided by other

service providers shall not be used for any
official communication, the notification
said.
This policy is applicable to all employees
of Central Government and employees of
those State or Union Territories
governments that use the e-mail services
of provided by Central Government.
This policy idea was mooted by the
Department of Electronics and IT after
whistle blower Edward Snowden claimed
that U.S. intelligence agencies secretly
monitors Internet data to spy on various
countries, including India with help of
some of software and Internet companies.
As per new policy, government officials
will be allocated two e-mail ids one
based on designation and other on name.
Russia plans its own space station
The Russian Federal Space Agency
(Roscosmos) has revealed plans to build an
orbiting outpost and land cosmonauts on
the moon once the International Space
Station (ISS) is mothballed next decade.
In an official statement , Roscosmos
pledged its support for the ISS until 2024
but outlined plans to disconnect its
modules soon after, and use them to build
a Russian space station in its place.
The creation of a national space station
would ensure that Russia has a base to fly
cosmonauts to until it has developed its
more ambitious plans to send crews on
orbiting missions around the moon and
land them on its surface by 2030.
Since Nasa, the U.S. space agency, retired
its fleet of space shuttles, Russia has been
the only nation able to ferry humans to and
from the ISS aboard its Soyuz rockets.
The Russians commitment to the ISS was
welcomed by some experts, including
242

Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut
who covered the David Bowie classic,
Space Oddity, from the ISS.
Despite the enthusiasm over Moscows
decision to extend its support, the plans
outlined by Roscosmos for a national space
station and human missions to the moon
suggest that Russia is poised to break away
from its international partners in space
exploration.
Too many waiting for blood stem cell

transplants: Study
Over a million people have received blood
and marrow stem cell transplants for lifethreatening diseases in the past 57 years,
but too many are still waiting, a study said.
Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation
(HSCT) often offers the only possibility of
a cure for blood diseases and rare cancers
like myeloma or leukaemia.
The procedure involves taking healthy
stem cells from the blood or marrow of the
patient or from a healthy donor, with which
to boost the system of someone whose
blood-manufacturing bone marrow or
immune system is damaged or defective.
By 1985, 28 years after the first
experimental marrow transplant, about
10,000 such procedures had been
performed, rising to 500,000 by 1995, said
a study in The Lancet Haematology journal.
By December 2012, that number had risen
to almost a million at 1,516 transplant
centres in 75 countries.
Indias own GPS soon
Scientists are eagerly awaiting the March
9 launch of IRNSS-1D, the fourth Indian
regional navigation satellite.
The Rs. 1,400-crore-plus IRNSS (Indian
Regional Navigation Satellite System) has
been called Indias own GPS. It can do all

that we do with GPS, a U.S. military system,
but apparently much better and at a local
level.
This satellite will complete more than half
of the ambitious Indian GPS ring over the
subcontinent and allow ISROs sat-nav
team to prove its usefulness in locationbased applications.
Four satellites out of the constellation of
seven are said to be the minimum the
scientists need to check out signals and
accuracy.
S.K. Shivakumar, Director of ISRO Satellite
Centre in Bengaluru, told The Hindu that
IRNSS-1D would finetune the details being
provided by its earlier three siblings. The
next three navigation satellites, he said,
would take this to the targeted precision
levels and make it easy to pinpoint required
positions for many users.
IRNSS-1D is slated to be put on the PSLV
launcher on February 28 at the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The
first one, IRNSS-1A, was launched in July
2013.
Spacewalk on ISS completed

NASA astronauts at International Space
Station (ISS) have successfully completed
the first of three spacewalks to create parking spots for Boeing and SpaceX to deliver
astronauts to the orbital laboratory.
The 6-hour, 41-minute-spacewalk by
Expedition 42 astronauts Barry Wilmore
and Terry Virts was meant to prepare the
ISS for a pair of international docking
adapters that will allow future commercial
crew vehicles to dock.
The cable routing work is part of a
reconfiguration of station systems and
modules to accommodate the delivery of
new docking adapters that commercial
243
crew vehicles will use later this decade to

deliver astronauts to the orbital laboratory.
The spacewalk was the first for Mr. Virts.
Mr. Wilmore now has spent 13 hours and
15 minutes in the void of space during two
spacewalks.
Astronauts have now spent a total of 1,159
hours and 8 minutes conducting space
station assembly and maintenance during
185 spacewalks, NASA said.
Babies made from skin may be boon for
same sex couples
In a breakthrough, researchers led by an
Indian-origin scientist, have shown that
stem cells from the skin of two adults of
the same sex can be used to make human
egg and sperm cells.
Scientists at Cambridge University
collaborated with Israels Weizmann
Institute of Science and used stem cell lines
from embryos as well as from the skin of
five different adults.
Researchers have previously created live
baby mice using engineered eggs and
sperm, but until now have struggled to
create a human version of these primordial
germ or stem cells.
Ten different donor sources have been used
so far and new germ-cell lines have been
created from all of them, researchers said.
The team has compared the engineered
germ cells with natural human stem cells
taken from aborted human foetuses to
check that the artificially created versions
of the cells had identical characteristics, The
Times reported.
A gene called SOX17, previously
considered to be unimportant in mice, has
turned out to be critical in the process of
reprogramming human cells, researchers
said.
A new weapon in the fight against malaria

A new family of bacteria that are common
in malaria mosquitoes has been found.
Scientists are trying to genetically modify
them to produce substances that stop
malaria parasite development.
Countrys highest zoo attempts to save high
altitude herbivores
The initiative taken by Darjeelings
Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological
Park (PNHZP) in conserving high altitude
herbivores that have been on the path of
extinction, has served to stem the rapid
decline in their numbers.
Some of the animals that have been
included in the conservation programme
of PNHZP, the countries highest altitude
zoo located at over 7,000 ft, are the Blue
Sheep, the Himalayan Tahr, the Himalayan
Goral and the Markhor.
All the four herbivores have been placed
in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection
Act, 1972, which denotes that the species
are threatened. The conservation of these
animals is also crucial for the Himalayan
ecosystem.
All the four herbivores are the main prey
of the much endangered Snow leopard. A
decrease in their numbers will naturally
affect the existence of the elusive mountain
cat, Upashna Rai, the biologist in the
PNHZP told.
Conserving these herbivores serves the
dual purpose of protecting the snow
leopard as well. The PNHZP is also
involved in the global conservation and
breeding programme of the snow leopard.
The Darjeeling Zoo has taken the initiative
of breeding these high altitude herbivores
and is also involving the other high altitude
zoos in breeding and conservation of the
species.
244

It has provided to each of the main zoos of
Sikkim and Nainital one pair of the Blue
Sheep and the Himalayan Goral as a part
of an exchange programme.
4th navigation satellite launch in March 2015

The fourth navigation satellite of the
country is getting ready for launch in
March, and it will be another step forward
for India in evolving its own navigation
satellite system and not depend on the
Geographical Positioning System (GPS)
service of the U.S.
Cryogenic propulsion systems on board
PSLV-C27 rocket that will launch the
satellite are being developed by scientists
of the ISRO Propulsion Complex at
Mahendragiri in Tirunelveli district.
S. Ingersol, group director of the complex,
told, Totally, seven satellites are required
to be launched to complete the
configuration under the Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) and
already three had been launched.
Dr. Ingersol said launch of the remaining
four satellites would be completed in one
year and after that Indias dependency on
the U.S. for GPS service would be
significantly reduced. This will trigger the
much-needed development in geographic
information systems.
The Mahendragiri complex was
developing the second and fourth liquid
stages needed for the launch vehicle.
Advance research by ISRO scientists has
made India go for launching heavier
satellites of three to four tonnes from our
own soil, he said.
TB rate going down, but not fast enough to
meet WHO target
India is unlikely to reach the WHO target
of elimination of tuberculosis (TB) by 2050
going by the rate at which incidence of the

disease is declining in the country.
Incidence of TB in India is declining at the
rate of about 2 per cent per year. However,
in order to reach the TB elimination target
by 2050, the rate should be 19 to 20 per cent
per year, WHO Representative to India
Nata Menabde told.
She, however, said that on using available
strategies and technologies effectively,
along with universal health coverage and
social protection, the country could achieve
a reduction of TB incidence rate of 10 per
cent per year by 2025.
To hasten the decline of TB incidence
beyond that would require new tools such
as new effective vaccines, new points of
care, effective diagnostics and new
effective shortened treatment regimens,
she suggested.
Additionally, social determinants of TB
such as under-nutrition, overcrowding and
poor ventilation in slums and clinical risk
factors such as diabetes mellitus, smoking
etc should be addressed simultaneously,
she added.
Citing the WHO Global TB Report 2014,
Ms. Menabde said that India has already
met the Million Development Goals (MDG)
target of 50 per cent reduction in the
prevalence of TB by 2015 compared to 1990.
India is also well on track for reducing TB
death by 50 per cent by 2015, she stated.
Ms. Menabde, however, said there was a
need to improve the quality of care
provided to TB patients at private clinics
and hospitals as most approached such
facilities for treatment, especially in urban
areas.
At least one-half of the TB patients in
India, especially in urban areas, approach
private sector for TB care. But the quality
of care in the private sector in most
245
situations is not satisfactory.

There is a need for wider dissemination
of standards for TB care to the private
sector, targeted approaches to engagement
with them and more stringent
implementation of mandatory notification
of TB cases.
Deficient southwest monsoon hits Rabi
sowing
A delayed and deficient southwest
monsoon has shrunk rabi sowing from last
years level. If sowing was taken up on
597.15 lakh hectares of land last year, the
figure this time was 566.18 lakh hectares.
What is worrisome is the gap of 30.97 lakh
hectares between the areas sown in the
previous week and its corresponding week
last year, higher than the deficit of 26.82
lakh hectares when making such a
comparison for the week earlier.
The southwest monsoon was 12 per cent
lower than the long period average in the
country and 21 per cent in northwest India,
hitting kharif crop production by 2-3 per
cent. The rain deficit is affecting rabi
sowing now.
A meeting in the Agriculture Ministry to
review the crop and weather situation
noted that wheat has been sown in 4.92 lakh
hectares less this year because of lower
moisture in the soil. Although the area
under wheat will be made up in the next
few weeks, the harvest will depend on the
weather conditions.
Of particular concern is the lower acreage
of pulses. The area under gram is lower this
year by 14.8 lakh hectares from last years
because of the lower minimum support
price. Farmers have turned away from
sowing gram as the price is low, sources
said.
The area under coarse cereals is lower by
4.57 lakh hectares mainly because of

reduced sowing of maize and jowar in
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh
and Gujarat.
Almonds could
Reduce belly fat, Study Found
Snacking on almonds instead of carbs could
reduce belly fat and lower the risk of heart
disease, a new study has claimed.
The study found that a daily snack of 1.5
ounces of almonds instead of a highcarbohydrate muffin, eaten as part of an
overall healthy diet, improved a number
of heart disease risk factors in study
participants.
In addition to significantly improving LDL
and total cholesterol, snacking on almonds
instead of muffins also reduced central
adiposity (belly fat), a well-established
heart disease risk factor.
Reducing abdominal fat is particularly
beneficial given its connection to metabolic
syndrome and increased risk for heart
disease. The twelve-week, randomised,
controlled clinical study, led by researchers
at Penn State University, was conducted in
52 overweight, middle-aged adults who
had high total and LDL cholesterol but
were otherwise healthy.
Participants ate cholesterol-lowering diets
that were identical except that one group
was given a daily snack of 1.5 ounces (42g)
of whole natural almonds, while the other
group was given a banana muffin that
provided the same number of calories.
Participants were provided all meals and
snacks in amounts based on their calorie
needs to maintain body weight, and
followed each diet for six weeks. The diet
containing the almond snack, compared to
the muffin snack, decreased total
cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol non-HDL-
246

cholesterol and remnant lipoproteins.
In addition, the diet with the muffin snack
reduced HDL (good) cholesterol more than
the almond diet. Despite no differences in
body weight or total fat mass, the almond
diet significantly reduced abdominal fat
mass, waist circumference and leg fat mass
compared to the diet with the muffin snack.
Common factors in divergent habitats of
migratory birds, Studies found
To understand the diverse habitats of
migratory birds and make comparison
studies, the bird watchers team of Nature
Society of Tirupur, that has been studying
the arrival-departure patterns of such
species in western region, travelled across
the State where migratory birds flock in
large numbers.
The assessment helped find the common
factors that prompt certain bird species to
visit areas such as Nanjarayan tank in
Tirupur and the coastal lines of the State,
though outwardly it looks as a divergent
environment.
Disclosing the patterns of migrations and
common factors that make respective
species to seek abodes in different parts of
the State, K. Ravindran, secretary of the
Society, told that many of the species that
flock the Nanjarayan irrigation tank area
in Tirupur and its hinterland were also seen
in coastal areas of the State, especially in
Nagapattinam district.
The team found species like the
Sandpipers, which come from Western
Europe, the Northern Pintails, that
migrates from Northern Europe and North
America, and the Black-tailed Godwits, a
bird species coming from Iceland area in
Europe, among few others, which comes
to western region of the State during winter
season, in coastal areas too with some of
them even noticed in smaller numbers

around irrigation tanks in sanctuaries like
Koonthankulam near Tirunelveli.
Indian vaccine Meningitis will protect
infants
A meningitis A vaccine (MenAfriVac)
manufactured by Serum Institute of India,
Pune was approved by WHO a few days
ago for use in infants in sub-Saharan
African populations. The vaccine will be
introduced as part of the routine
immunisation programme.
In the four years since its introduction in
Africa, MenAfriVac has had an immediate
and dramatic impact in breaking the cycle
of meningitis A epidemics, a WHO release
said. The vaccine has already been used in
those aged 1-29 years.
But with the WHOs approval, the vaccine
can be given to infants thereby protecting
million more children at risk of the deadly
disease. About 200,000 people suffer from
meningitis every year in the region.
The disease kills 20,000 to 25,000 people in
the region every year. Like in the case of
measles, not many meningitis cases are
seen in children younger than one year,
said Dr. Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director
of Serum Institute.
A mother, who has had meningitis,
transmits the meningitis antibodies to
newborns and these antibodies protect
them for one year.
Every individual living in the meningitis
belt (which stretches from Senegal in the
west to Ethiopia in the east) gets infected
with meningitis before the age of 29 years
and hence mothers invariably carry
antibodies against the disease.
The WHO has approved the use of a 5
microgram dose of the vaccine for children,
which will be administered when theyare
247
nine months old.

Immunisation at nine months will help
achieve sustainable disease control
following mass campaigns that target
people belonging to the 1-29 age group.
Explaining the rationale for choosing to
immunise at ninth month, Dr. Jadhav said:
Its one opportunity to treat both measles
and meningitis, he said. Measles
vaccination is also given to children at nine
months of age.
A booster dose will be given when the child
is 12-18 months old. According to Dr.
Jadhav, the first meningitis dose will
protect a child for five years and a booster
dose will confer lifelong protection.
Though a single campaign has been carried
outto cover a large population in 15
countries, those born after the campaign
have not received the MenAfriVac vaccine
and are hence vulnerable to meningitis
infection. But with the introduction of the
vaccine as part of the immunisation
schedule, these children will also be
protected.
New dolphin-like creature identified near

Scotland: scientists
A new dolphin-like species that lived
around 170 million years ago has been
identified from fossils found on the Isle of
Skye off Scotland.
The 14-feet long marine creature has been
named Dearcmhara shawcrossi in honour
of an amateur enthusiast, Brian Shawcross,
who recovered the creatures fossils from
the islands Bearreraig Bay in 1959.
It is a member of a group called
ichthyosaurs that were among the
dominant marine reptiles when dinosaurs
ruled the land. The dolphin-like creatures
were as long as 14 feet from snout to tail,
and inhabited warm, shallow seas around
Scotland during the Jurassic Period,

Scientist reported.
Dearcmhara,
a
moderate-sized
ichthyosaur, swam in warm, shallow seas
during the Jurassic Period, preyed on fish
and other reptiles.
Playing music benefits the brain: research
More than a decade ago, there was great
buzz in the press and media on something
that was tantalizingly referred to as The
Mozart Effect. Some researchers claimed
that school students performed better in
tests as they were listening to music by the
great European classical music composer
Mozart.
Compared to them, another set of students
(control group, same age, same
background and so forth) who took the
same tests, but with no Mozart in the
background, did less well.
This news spread like wildfire and parents
began playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
to their children with the hope of elevating
their performance, and hopefully IQ values
as well.
Several questions were raised about this
Mozart effect, both in the professional and
popular press. Is it reproducible (not
always, low sample size)? Does listening
to music only calm the mind and focus it
to the task on hand? Why Mozart, why not
Beethoven, Bach or Beatles? Why only
western music, and not Carnatic,
Hindustani, Japanese or even soothing
chants? Is the effect temporary or longlasting? Do lullabies make infants smarter,
besides sleep-inducing?
Many of these questions were attempted
to be answered by a variety of experiments
amateur and professional and the
overall consensus appears to be that music
is good for you, but as far as the Mozart
248

Effect goes, the jury is still out.
A more scientifically challenging question
here is whether music makes noticeable
change in your cognitive abilities, and
affect and alter the brain in perceptible
ways.
Is listening to music as a passive recipient
sufficient, or should one actively engage in
music singing solo or in groups, playing
an instrument, and improvising more
effectively? Note that in the latter case, you
are actually exerting and exercising your
brain. In other words, listening to Mozart,
or to play Mozart which would be a
better or true Mozart Effect?
Researchers identified Mutations causing
abnormal heart muscle protein
An international team of researchers have
sought to identify genetic mutations that
produce abnormal forms of a key heart
muscle protein. As a result of the
mutations, the heart muscles weaken and
produce a condition known as dilated
cardiomyopathy.
The increased strain that is then put on the
heart can lead to heart failure where the
organ is unable to pump the requisite
quantities of blood.
Changes to titin, a protein that is part of
the mechanism muscles use to contract and
relax, have been implicated as a cause for
dilated cardiomyopathy.
Titin is the largest human protein and is
produced by a gene whose genetic
information exists as 364 separate
segments, known as exons. Variations in
how the genetic data from these exons are
assembled mean that the protein can exist
in a variety of forms.
A 2012 study carried out in severe and familial cases of dilated cardiomyopathy
found that disruptive mutations in the
gene, resulting in truncated titin variants

being produced, were the commonest genetic cause for the ailment.
Researchers who carried out that study
have gone on to examine titin gene
sequences from over 5,200 individuals,
with and without the condition, as well as
scrutinising 150 heart tissue samples
collected from patients who underwent
heart surgery.
Polar bear clusters migrate to
Northwest Passages for longer lasting ice
Some polar bear clusters have slowly
moved to islands situated in north of
Canadas mainland that are retaining the
Arctic ice for longer says a new scientific
study. According to the study the
migration is linked to climate change and
would continue.
The study published earlier this month in
the journal PLOS ONE was based on DNA
taken from nearly 2,800 polar bears in
countries where the animals live - the
United States, Russia, Canada, Greenland
and Norway.
Bear clusters from Canadas eastern Arctic
area and a marine area off eastern
Greenland and Siberia are journeying to the
Canadian Archipelago, also known as the
Arctic Archipelago, where ice is more
abundant, the study found.
The channels through the islands, known
as the Northwest Passages, have come to
be seen as a potentially valuable shipping
route as Arctic ice melts.
The region that has attracted a larger number of polar bears sits north of the Canadian mainland, close to Nunavut and the
Northwest Territories. It is comprised of
more than 36,000 islands and covers more
than 550,000 square miles (1.4 million
square km).
249
The migration has occurred during the last

one to three generations of the predators,
or between 15 and 45 years, U.S. Geological Survey researcher Elizabeth Peacock,
the studys lead author, said in a statement.
The bears choose this area because that is
where the sea is more resilient to summer
melt due to circulation patterns, complex
geography and cooler northern latitudes,
Peacock said.
The Canadian Archipelago could serve as
a future refuge for polar bears, who rely
on Arctic ice to cross between land masses,
to forage and to mate, according to the
researchers.
Indias Mars Orbiter team wins award
Indias Mars Orbiter programme team has
won the 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the
science and engineering category from the
US based National Space Society (NSS), the
society said.
In a statement issued in Washington, the
NSS said its 2015 Space Pioneer Award in
the science and engineering category has
been won by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) Mars Orbiter
Programme team.
This award will be presented to an ISRO
representative during the National Space
Societys 2015 International Space
Development Conference, the 34th ISDC,
to be held in Toronto, Canada, the
statement said.
The conference will run form May 20-24.
According to the NSS, Indias Mars Orbiter
launched on Nov 5, 2013 that went into
Mars orbit on Sep 24, 2014 achieved two
significant mission firsts in terms of an
Indian spacecraft that has gone into orbit
around Mars on the very first try and that
no other country has ever done this.
Secondly, the spacecraft is in an elliptical
orbit with a high apoapsis, and has a high

resolution camera which is taking full-disk
colour imagery of Mars.
Very few full disk images have ever been
taken in the past, mostly on approach to
the planet, as most imaging is done looking
straight down in mapping mode.
These images will aid planetary scientists.
The Mars Orbiter programme team located
in Bangalore is headed by Mylswamy
Annadurai, the statement said.
Playing music benefits the brain: research
More than a decade ago, there was great
buzz in the press and media on something
that was tantalizingly referred to as The
Mozart Effect. Some researchers claimed
that school students performed better in
tests as they were listening to music by the
great European classical music composer
Mozart.
Compared to them, another set of students
(control group, same age, same
background and so forth) who took the
same tests, but with no Mozart in the
background, did less well.
This news spread like wildfire and parents
began playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
to their children with the hope of elevating
their performance, and hopefully IQ values
as well.
Several questions were raised about this
Mozart effect, both in the professional and
popular press. Is it reproducible (not
always, low sample size)? Does listening
to music only calm the mind and focus it
to the task on hand? Why Mozart, why not
Beethoven, Bach or Beatles? Why only
western music, and not Carnatic,
Hindustani, Japanese or even soothing
chants? Is the effect temporary or longlasting? Do lullabies make infants smarter,
besides sleep-inducing?
250

Many of these questions were attempted
to be answered by a variety of experiments
amateur and professional and the
overall consensus appears to be that music
is good for you, but as far as the Mozart
Effect goes, the jury is still out.
A more scientifically challenging question
here is whether music makes noticeable
change in your cognitive abilities, and
affect and alter the brain in perceptible
ways.
Is listening to music as a passive recipient
sufficient, or should one actively engage in
music singing solo or in groups, playing an instrument, and improvising more
effectively? Note that in the latter case, you
are actually exerting and exercising your
brain. In other words, listening to Mozart,
or to play Mozart which would be a better or true Mozart Effect?
Britains Beagle 2 spacecraft found on
Mars
Britains infamous Beagle 2 spacecraft,
once dubbed a heroic failure by the
nations Astronomer Royal, has been found
on Mars 11 years after it went missing
searching for extraterrestrial life.
Beagle 2, part of the European Space
Agencys Mars Express mission, had been
due to land on Mars on Christmas Day
2003, but went missing on December 19,
2003. Until now, nothing had been heard
from it since then.
But in an announcement made to a packed
news conference at Londons Royal Society
scientific institution, space experts said the
tiny Mars lander has been found on the
surface of the red planet.
Beagle 2 is no longer lost, said David
Parker, chief executive of the UK Space
Agency. He said scientists now had good
evidence that the spacecraft successfully
landed on Mars on the date it was due

December 25, 2003 but had only partially
deployed.
This find shows that the entry, descent
and landing sequence for Beagle 2 worked
and the lander did successfully touch down
on Mars on Christmas Day 2003, the UK
space agency said in a statement.
Beagle 2 which measures less than 2
metres across was named after the ship
Charles Darwin sailed when he formulated
his theory of evolution. It was built by
British scientists for about 50 million
pounds ($85 million)
The plan was for it to report back from the
Mars surface using instruments designed
to help search for signs of life, but nothing
was heard after it was dropped off to make
its landing.
2014 Earths hottest year on record: scientists
2014 was Earths hottest on record in new
evidence that people are disrupting the
climate by burning fossil fuels that release
greenhouse gases into the air, two U.S.
government agencies said.
The White House said the studies, by the
U.S. space agency NASA and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), showed climate change was
happening now and that action was needed
to cut rising world greenhouse gas
emissions.
The 10 warmest years since records began
in the 19th century have all been since 1997,
the data showed. Last year was the
warmest, ahead of 2010, undermining
claims by some skeptics that global
warming has stopped in recent years.
Record temperatures in 2014 were spread
around the globe, including most of Europe
stretching into northern Africa, the western
United States, far eastern Russia into
251
western Alaska, parts of interior South

America, parts of eastern and western
coastal Australia and elsewhere, NASA
and NOAA said.
While the ranking of individual years can
be affected by chaotic weather patterns, the
long-term trends are attributable to drivers
of climate change that right now are
dominated by human emissions of
greenhouse gases, said Gavin Schmidt,
director of NASAs Goddard Institute of
Space Studies in New York.
The data shows quite clearly that its the
greenhouse gas trends that are responsible
for the majority of the trends, he told
reporters. Emissions were still rising so we
may anticipate further record highs in the
years to come.
U.N. studies show there already are more
extremes of heat and rainfall and project
ever more disruptions to food and water
supplies. Sea levels are rising, threatening
millions of people living near coasts, as ice
melts from Greenland to Antarctica.
Parrikar hands over LCA SP-1 to Air Force
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar
handed over the first series-production
version of the Light Combat Aircraft to the
Indian Air Force.
Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup
Raha, received its technical documents
from the Minister in the presence of
R.K.Tyagi, Chairman of its manufacturer,
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
At Bharat Electronics Ltd, the Minister laid
the foundation stone for a training
academy.
He
rolled
out
the
750{+t}{+h}metro car made by BEML Ltd
for Delhi Metro, the defence companies
said.
The IAF looks set to get the final battleready version of the Light Combat Aircraft
only around December this year, according

to top officials involved in its development.
That means a further six-month delay in
the 25-year-old aircraft project, which was
expected to be achieved in June this year.
Agni-V missile to be test-fired on January 31
Indias strategic missile, Agni-V, will testfired from the Wheeler Island, off the
Odisha coast, on January 31.
The Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO), which has
developed the missile, will launch it from
a canister mounted on a road-mobile
launcher, which is a TATRA truck.
A gas generator at the bottom of the
canister will push the 17-metre long, 50tonne Agni-V out of the canister.
The missile, which can take out targets
situated more than 5,000 km away, can
carry a nuclear warhead weighing 1.1
tonnes. In the launch on January 31, 2015,
it will carry a dummy payload.
The missile was earlier scheduled to be testfired in the second week of January but was
postponed to the last week of January or
the first week of February due to nontechnical reasons.
Changing face of tech spending and Indian
IT
Last week, Indias big three IT firms TCS,
Infosys and Wipro exuded optimism on
the demand environment and IT spending
even as research firm Gartner cut its global
tech spending forecast for calendar year
2015.
Gartner pegs 2015 spending to grow 2.4 per
cent to $3.8 trillion (tempered from its
previous forecast of 3.9 per cent). Within
the overall pie, IT services are expected to
rise by 2.5 per cent to $981 billion, which is
lower than 4.1 per cent projection the firm
252

made in the last quarter.
The firm expects a subdued demand for
software support services through 2018 in
the backdrop of lower growth rate for
enterprise software.
A slowdown in enterprise software means
that the over $100 billion Indian IT services
industry, which has thrived from
traditional bread-and-butter business like
application development and maintenance
and infrastructure management, will now
have to look at newer avenues for growth
as clients move towards digital
technologies to cut cost.
GPS tracking devices to monitor Obama
convoy
Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking
devices and satellite images would be used
by intelligence and security agencies to
keep a constant watch on the movements
of U.S. President Barack Obamas convoy
during his visit.
It is learnt that a dedicated joint control
room consisting of senior Indian and U.S.
security officials has been set up to monitor
the security arrangements for Mr. Obama.
A part of ITC Maurya, where the U.S.
President will stay, has been converted into
a control room.
As a precautionary measure, agencies may
block public access to online GPS maps of
about a dozen places in Delhi, which Mr.
Obama is scheduled to visit. GPS maps of
all venues have been designed to keep track
of his movement. However, no drones will
be deployed for aerial surveillance.
U.S. sleuths have brought along antisabotage scanners to sanitise the venues in
coordination with their Indian
counterparts.
Cyber security experts have been engaged
for surveillance of suspicious online
activity. Mr. Obama will use his own

vehicle The Beast. His will be a larger
cavalcade with over two dozen vehicles, .
Following several rounds of meetings, it
has been decided that on Republic Day, Mr.
Obama will not accompany President
Pranab Mukherjee to the parade venue, but
will arrive in his 18-foot long Presidential
car with Mr. Mukherjees cavalcade.
In 2007, as the chief guest at the Republic
Day parade, the then Russian President
Vladimir Putin had also used his own
vehicle, said the official. The entire city
will be turned into a no-fly zone, allowing
only the flypast of Indian Air Force aircraft.
The Beast is an explosion-proof heavily
armoured vehicle fitted with a night vision
system. It is a virtual shield capable of
withstanding biochemical attacks and has
its own oxygen supply mechanism. The
seven-seater vehicle functions as a control
room for the U.S. President to remain in
touch with the Pentagon and senior U.S.
government functionaries through videoconferencing or encrypted satellite phone
communications. It is fitted with
emergency medical equipment and has a
bank of his blood type. The vehicles fuel
tank, with a special foam coating, is
armour-plated and its doors have eightinch-thick armour plating. The cars fiveinch-thick windows are bulletproof. Its
driver undergoes special week-long
training at a secret service academy.
Major cause of blindness identified
Microscopic spheres of calcium phosphate
have been linked to the development of
age-related macular degeneration (AMD),
a major cause of blindness. AMD affects 1
in 5 people over 75, causing their vision to
slowly deteriorate.
253
Valmik Thapar moots PPP route to save tigers
Author Valmik Thapar feels experts, scientists, and non-governmental organisations

should be involved in tiger conservation.
Though the recent tiger census, which has
shown a 30 per cent increase in the number of tigers, is a remarkable achievement,
the country should be able to sustain it, environmentalist and wildlife expert Valmik
Thapar said . Mr Thapar made a strong
pitch for public-private partnership in tiger conservation programmes in the country.
The latest Tiger Census in the country puts
the number at 2,226, indicating a 30 per cent
jump from the previous census. India now
accounts for 70 per cent of the worlds wild
tigers.
Speaking at a session on Tigers in Red
Weather at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival here, Mr. Thapar warned that the tiger population could go up as sharply as it
could come down.
TRAI issues draft rules for full mobile
number portability
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI) has issued draft regulations to
facilitate full mobile number portability,
which is set to start from May 3.
The full or nationwide mobile number
portability (MNP) will allow consumers to
change the service provider in any part of
the country while retaining their existing
number.
At present, mobile number portability
allows consumers to change their service
provider within a telecom circle, which, in
most cases, is limited to a State.
In view of implementation of full MNP,
some changes will be required in the MNP
Regulations, 2009 (as amended).
Accordingly, a draft amendment to the
Telecommunication Mobile Number
Portability Regulation, 2009, has been

prepared, TRAI said in a statement.
The Department of Telecom on November
3, 2014, issued amendment to the MNP
Licence Agreement, and asked telecom
operators to implement full MNP within
six months from the date of amendment to
the licences.
In the new amendment, TRAI wants to
introduce a clause to safeguard the interest
of post-paid mobile service users who face
disconnection in new network even after
clearing all their dues of their old service
provider.
The regulator has fixed timeline on the old
or donor service provider and new or
recipient service provider for clear
communication about dues cleared by the
subscriber to ensure continuity of service.
TRAI has sought public comments on the
subject by February 6.
India, U.S. to extend Defence cooperation

pact
Aiming for a transformative defence partnership, India and the U.S. agreed to extend the Defence Cooperation Agreement
and identified four projects under the Defence Technology Trade Initiative (DTTI)
for joint production and development and
exploring cooperation for jet engines and
aircraft carrier systems.
Mr. Modi said this would help upgrade the
countrys domestic defence industry and
expand the manufacturing sector in India.
Mr. Obama said the agreement would
guide the bilateral defence cooperation for
the next 10 years.
In another significant step, the two
countries agreed to set up a working group
to explore aircraft carrier technology and
design and develop jet engine technology
in India.
254

The projects identified under the DTTI
include next-generation Raven miniunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), roll-on,
roll-off intelligence kits for C-130 transport
aircraft and mobile electric hybrid power
source.
Indian Ambassador to the U.S. S.
Jaishankar said these four projects were
pathfinder schemes as they would
determine how to go forward in defence
co-development. Of these, two projects
were with U.S. companies, while two were
with the U.S. government.
HIV treatment to be linked to Aadhaar
Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) Treatment
for HIV/AIDS infection will now be linked
to Aadhaar. Even those coming for HIV
infection testing will have to produce their
Aadhaar cards. This is to avoid duplication
of patients going to several ART Centres
for testing.
The National Aids Control Organisation
(NACO) has created a special software
which will identify a patient who goes for
testing at different centres and gets
registered at all the centres.
Agni-V to be test-fired from canister today
Agni-V, Indias most powerful strategic
missile, developed by the Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO)
will lift off from a canister mounted on a
TATRA truck stationed on the Wheeler
Island off Odisha.
This is the third launch, but the first from a
canister, a method that will allow the
missile to be fired even from roads.
Avinash Chander, Scientific Adviser to the
Defence Minister and DRDO DirectorGeneral, has called Agni-V a game
changer. Mr. Chander, the architect of the
Agni series, will be present at the launch
scheduled for 8 a.m. Agni-V can carry a 1.1tonne nuclear warhead over 5,000 km.
Swine flu
Deaths preventable: Centre
2,038 cases reported this year across the
country, 191 dead
In the wake of a H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak,
which has claimed 191 lives this year, the
Centre said mortality on account of the flu
can be contained with immediate medical
intervention.
There have been 2,038 cases of H1N1
reported across the country in 2015, with
Telangana reporting the highest number of
cases at 629 and 34 deaths, followed by
Delhi with 488 cases and 5 deaths, Gujarat
with 309 cases and 38 deaths and Rajasthan
with 205 cases and 49 deaths.
Health Ministry officials said Delhis low
mortality is attributable to the high
awareness about the flu, followed by early
detection and timely treatment.
The Centre is closely monitoring the surge
in cases and Central teams have been
dispatched to Telangana and Rajasthan.
Smart phone dongle to diagnose HIV,
syphilis
A palm-sized dongle connected to a
smartphone will soon be able to diagnose
HIV and syphilis with good accuracy.
The device, which was recently field-tested
on 96 patients in Rwanda, had high
sensitivity and specificity for both HIV and
syphilis.
The results are published today (February
5) in the journal Science Translational
Medicine.
Sensitivity and specificity for both the
infections are comparable to the lab-based
ELISA.
255
In the case of HIV, the sensitivity was 100

per cent and specificity was 87 per cent. For
syphilis, the sensitivity was 92-100 per cent
and specificity was 79-92 per cent.
Worlds oldest computer is even older than
scientists thought
Antikythera Mechanism, the worlds oldest
computer, is even 100 years older than
scientists previously thought, say
Argentinian researchers.
Discovered from a Roman cargo shipwreck
off the Greek island of Antikythera, the
bronze device was used to track the
movements of Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn.
The device provides a wealth of
astronomical information and offers
practically the only possibility for a close
astronomical dating of the mechanism,
theNew York Timesreported.
The device was discovered in a wooden
box and consists of bronze dials, gears and
cogs.
The complex device, made up of up to 40
bronze cogs and gears, was used in ancient
times to track the cycles of the solar system.
On the back were two further dials
displaying information about lunar cycles
and eclipses.
Delay in NASAs Orion spaceship test flight
The launch of NASAs deep-space capsule
Orion for a test flight around Earth was
delayed due to gusty winds at the launch
site.
Liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Delta
4 Heavy rocket and Orion capsule from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida
had been targeted for 7:05 a.m. EST (1205
GMT).
There is high optimism that well be able
to launch today, said NASA launch

commentator Michael Curie.
Launch was delayed first by a boat that
wandered in the restricted zone beneath the
rockets intended flight path and then by
gusty winds at the seaside spaceport.
Google launches a new application for
SMBs
In a move to create easier online presence
for the small and medium businesses
(SMBs), Google has launched a new
application, Google My Business.
The new product is designed to work
across desktop and mobile devices, and
will enable SMBs to create and update their
business info on various Google products
such as search, maps and Google plus from
one place for free. The users can use the
service in Hindi and English.
Commenting on the new initiative, Google
India Head (SMB sales) Suryanarayana
Kodukulla said: India is a strategic market
for Google, and we are committed to invest
in solutions that cater to the needs of SMBs
in India.
As part of our Digitising India mission,
we are introducing this new mobile-based
product Google My Business that will help
Indian SMBs create and manage their
Internet presence and help them connect
with potential customers online, he
added.
According to the company, globally over
two million businesses use Googles
advertising platform to find potential
buyers on Internet. On growth of Internet
in the country, he said, India is the third
largest Internet market.
To get the first hundred million Internet
users it took us ten years, but the second
hundred million came in a span of two
years that was pretty fast, more interesting
256

thing is in the next one one-and-half years
we will get the next hundred million
users.
Benefits from music for the autistic: study
Paired with an impaired language
development, children with autism can
have a profound sensitivity to music: a
good melodic memory, a superior ability
at timbre processing, and a distinctive
emotional response to song.
Taking this cue, neuroscientists at the
National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) in
Gurgaon set out to see if music can rescue
speech deficits in children with autism.
The results of neuroimaging revealed that
music and the sung word lights up
parts of the right hemisphere of their brain
just as much as it do for a child without
autism.
Predictably, however, there was a
diminished response to the spoken word,
the researchers report in the journalAutism
Research.
For the study scientists mapped the brain
activities of 22 children with autism as they
heard spoken words, sung words and
piano notes. They then compared these
responses to typical children.
When typical children listen to spoken
words they primarily activate two regions
in the left hemisphere the Inferior
Frontal Gyrus (IFG) and the Superior
Temporal Gyrus (STG) that are involved
in language perception and understanding.
Ability of HIV to cause AIDS slowing found
study
A research study has found that HIV and
as a consequence AIDS is slowly
becoming less aggressive in parts of Africa.
These are the significant findings of a study
conducted by Professor Philip Goulder and

his team at the Nuffield Department of
Medicine at Oxford University that have
been published in the journal Proceedings
of National Academy of Sciences.
Based on a study of about 2,000 pregnant
women in Botswana and South Africa, the
team has demonstrated that the weakening
of the immunodeficiency virus is due to its
rapid evolution and ability to mutate over
time.
In Botswana the epidemic took off in the
1980s, a decade before it hit South Africa.
Overall we are bringing down the ability
of HIV to cause AIDS so quickly, Prof.
Goulder told Reuters.
Scientists were aware that a gene known
as HLA-B*57 in a person acted as a
protection against the HIV virus. The new
study finds that the virus has adapted to
the gene, which therefore no longer offers
protection.
Artificial intelligence could eliminate
human race: Hawking
Efforts to develop artificial intelligence to
create thinking machines pose a threat to
the very existence of human race, famed
British theoretical physicist Stephen
Hawking warned.
The development of full artificial
intelligence could spell the end of the
human race, the 72-year-old cosmologist
and author said when asked about a
revamp of the technology he uses to
communicate, which involves a basic form
of artificial intelligence (AI).
Hawking, who has a motor neuron disease,
is using a new system developed by Intel
to speak.
Machine learning experts from the British
company Swiftkey were also involved in
its creation. Their technology learns how
257
the professor thinks and suggests the

words he might want to use next.
Hawking says the primitive forms of artificial intelligence developed so far have
already proved very useful, but he fears the
consequences of creating something that
can match or surpass humans.
Hayabusa2 launched to explore how earth
was formed
A Japanese space explorer was launched
on a six-year roundtrip journey to blow a
crater in a remote asteroid and collect
samples from inside in hopes of gathering
clues to the origin of earth.
The explorer is expected to reach the
asteroid in 2018 and spend about 18 months
studying it before returning in 2020.
The research includes shooting a projectile
into the asteroid to blast open a crater so
the explorer can collect rock samples from
inside.
Asteroids can provide evidence not
available on earth about the birth of the
solar system and its evolution. Japans
space agency said Hayabusa2 will explore
the origin of seawater and how the planet
earth was formed.
Slimmer & sleeker Google Glass soon:
report
The new version of Intel-powered Google
Glass may look slimmer and sleeker than
its earlier version.
The exteriors of the new device also add a
textured area to the touch-sensitive side
panel where non-voice interactions are
performed, according to media reports.
The new Google Glass is expected to be
unveiled next year. The Google patent
describes a sleeker version of Google Glass
that should still draw plenty of public
attention.
Google Glass is presently available for

$1,500, though it is speculated that the final
retail version will sell for a lot less.
Shela River route closed after Sundarbans
oil spill
The Bangladesh government has closed
Shela River route to allvessels after the
sinking of an oil tanker that led to a massive
oil spill in the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
Carrying 357,664 l of furnace oil, the tanker
OT Southern Star 7 went down after being
hit by another vessel on the Shela at
Mrigmari in the Sundarbans Chandpai
range three days ago.
The massive oil spill from the sunken
tanker has put the biodiversity and ecology
of the worlds biggest mangrove forest, a
world heritage site since 1997, at risk.
Forest officials suspect that all of the
furnace oil in the sunken tanker has already
spread into the rivers and canals of the
Sundarbans.
Mosquito coils, incense sticks contain
carcinogens: expert
Inhaling smoke emitted by mosquito coils
and incense sticks is not only harmful to
the lungs, but can also cause cancer, said
Sundeep Salvi, director of Chest Research
Foundation, Pune.
Dr. Salvi, who spoke on Indoor pollution
and asthma at the 48th National Conference of Indian College of Allergy, Asthma
and Applied Immunology at JSS Hospital,
claimed that research by the foundation
had shown that mosquito coils and incense
sticks contain carcinogens, while studies in
Taiwan and China had established their
link with lung cancer.
Burning one mosquito coil in a closed
room amounts to smoking roughly 100
cigarettes, Dr. Salvi said.
258

While the emission from the burning of
incense sticks, used commonly during
religious occasions in India, is toxic as it
contains lead, iron and manganese, he said
the pesticide pyrethrin in mosquito coils
is harmful for the lungs.
The no-smoke coils, marketed by the
companies, may have less particulate
matter, but they emit a high level of carbon
monoxide, which is unsafe for the lungs,
he added.
Though studies are yet to be conducted on
mosquito repellent mats and liquidators,
he said the gaseous pollution they cause
are a strong irritant for the lungs.
Dr. Salvi said the foundation had recently
conducted research in 22 villages near
Pune, which showed that 65 per cent of the
households keep both the doors and
windows closed while using mosquito
coils, which accentuates the effect of
inhaling toxic fumes.
Stem cells in eye can restore vision:
scientists
In what promises to be an alternative to
corneal transplantation in treating
blindness caused from damage to cornea,
scientists from city-based L.V. Prasad Eye
Institute (LVPEI) in collaboration with U.S.
scientists claimed to have discovered
potent stem cells in the eye that possess the
ability to restore lost sight.
The findings were published inScience
Translational Medicine. Dr. Sayan Basu,
LVPEI consultant corneal surgeon, said he
along with other scientists at the laboratory
of Prof. James L.Funderburgh, Professor of
Ophthalmology, University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine, tested stem cells
obtained from human eyes on an
experimental model of corneal scarring.
Satellite technology to assess coral reef

health
High-end satellite technology is coming to
the aid of protecting earths largest
biological structures the coral reefs
which have taken millions of years to form
and are declining at alarming rates
worldwide.
Coral bleaching is one of the main reasons
for increased deterioration of reef health.
Corals are sensitive to changes in
temperature and this aspect has come in
handy for scientists to forewarn about the
possibility of coral bleaching.
When exposed to higher temperatures over
an extended period of four to five weeks,
the corals bleach and this in turn affects the
marine ecosystem.
Scientists at the Indian National Centre for
Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) are
using satellite technology to glean data on
Sea Surface Temperatures (SST).
Based on an average temperature for a
particular period, they assess if the coral
reefs are facing thermal stress and
forewarn about the probability of
bleaching.
Once they start bleaching, the corals expel
the symbiotic organism (zooxanthellae)
from which they derive food and die as a
result. Corals act as breeding and feeding
ground for a variety of fishes.
Corals are the forests of oceans,said Dr.
T. Srinivasa Kumar, Head of the advisory
service and satellite oceanography group.
Mountains of plastic waste floating in
worlds oceans
Believe it or not, nearly 269,000 tonnes of
plastic comprising an estimated 5.25 trillion
plastic particles are floating in the worlds
oceans, including the Bay of Bengal.
259
This estimate does not take into account the

amount of plastic waste found in the shorelines, on the seabed, suspended in the water column and that consumed by marine
organisms.
The plastic particles are found in three size
ranges microplastic (less than 4.75 mm),
mesoplastic (4.75-200 mm) and
macroplastic (above 200 mm). The
microplastic particles alone are in two size
classes 0.33-1.00 mm and 1.01-4.75 mm.
Of the 269,000 tonnes of floating plastic
waste, the larger plastic items are
predominant (an estimated 233,000
tonnes).
The results of a study by Marcus Eriksen
(the first author) from the Five Gyres
Institute, California, are published
(December 11) in the journalPLOS ONE.
The results are based on 24 expeditions
undertaken between 2007 and 2013 across
all the five sub-tropical gyres North and
South Pacific Oceans, North and South
Atlantic Oceans and the Indian Ocean
coastal Australia, Bay of Bengal and the
Mediterranean Sea.
Nine new frog species add to Western Ghats
inventory
The inventory of amphibian diverstiy in the
Western Ghats has just got longer with the
discovery of nine new species of bush frogs
in this mountain range.
Some as tiny as a thumbnail, other brightly
coloured or plain slimy, each of these
creatures adds important insights into the
evolutionary biodiversity of the Western
Ghats, says Kartik Shanker of the Indian
Institute of Science and co-author of a paper
published in international journalZootaxa.
Researchers trekked through the Western
Ghats during the rainy season (when bush
frogs are most active) training their ear to
tell tale bush frog calls and scouring tree

trunks for them.
Bush frogs are miniature frogs distributed
throughout south and southeast Asia.
They then used genetics, geography,
morphology and acoustics to separate the
frogs into lineages (descendants of a
common ancestor that lived a million or
more years ago).
There could be at least 15 new species of
bush frogs waiting to be discovered adding
to the over 50 species known from the
Western Ghats, said Dr. Shanker.
India would have new comprehensive
climate legislation: Javadekar
Union minister of state for environment
Prakash Javadekar said that India would
have new comprehensive climate
legislation in the next budget session of
Parliament.
Speaking at an event organised by The
Globe Legislators Organisation (Globe
India) , Mr Javadekar said there is the real
issue of Climate finance.
While the world has realised the dangers
of climate change, the main issue is that the
Green climate fund must become a reality.
From 2012, it was expected to start with $10
billion every year to reach $100 billion by
2020 and then continue with $ 100 billion
per year. But today its just $9.7 billion.
He said funds will be a key decision point
in Lima and apart from that there is the
issue of the Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions (INDC)s.
Things are very different from Kyoto when
the world was divided into the developing
countries or the non annexe one and the
annexe one countries which was the
developed world.
Now things had changed, he pointed out
and every country has to take action and
260

announce them. He predicted heated
debates on Climate Finance, INDCs and
other key issues.
He referred to Indias targets for solar
power and the scaling up of solar energy
from 20 gigawatt(GW) to100 GW by 2022
for which an investment of $ 100 billion was
made.
Modi, Mukesh Ambani amongst most
searched personalities in 2014: Yahoo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
industrialist Mukesh Ambani feature
amongst the most searched personalities
online this year, according to search engine
Yahoo.
According to the seventh edition of Yahoo
Indias Year in Review, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi led the list of High and
Mighty? the Political Top 10 in 2014,
followed by his aides Arun Jaitley (Finance
and I&B Minister) and BJP President Amit
Shah.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Congress
President Sonia Gandhi, Railways Minister
Suresh Prabhu and BJP General Secretary
Ram Madhav have also been named in the
list.
The review is based on users daily search
habits and an editorial selection of what
they read, recommended and shared most
on Yahoo in India.
The slew of reforms and Modis efforts to
improve diplomatic ties were of ongoing
interest to Yahoo users. Make in India
made it to the top of the list of Biggest
Financial Events of the Year, Yahoo said.
Industrialist Mukesh Ambani made a
second appearance at the No. 1 spot as the
nations most influential people, followed
by Tata Group boss Cyrus Mistry and
Gautam Adani, Chief of Adani Group of
Industries.
This years top finance newsmakers include

Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO
Satya Nadella, Infosys CEO and MD Vishal
Sikka, Flipkarts Sachin Bansal and Binny
Bansal and Snapdeals Rohit Bansal.
Google set to replace CAPTCHAs with
single click feature
Google is set to get rid of CAPTCHA that
forced users to confirm they are humans
by typing in barely legible words and
numbers, a report said.
The service will now be replaced with a
single click on sites that use Googles
reCAPTCHA service.
The search engine giant is now introducing
a new API text that will require users to
just check a box that says, Im not a robot,
reported Tech Crunch.
Google decided to trash the old Captchas
because they werent that good at keeping
robots at bay. The advanced robots today
could solve Captchas with 99.8 per cent
accuracy.
New evidence of water on Mars, NASA report
Led by a team of scientists of Indian-origin,

NASAs Curiosity rover has found new
evidence of water on Mars, indicating that
the planet most like Earth in the solar
system was suitable for microbial life.
Pictures and other data collected by
NASAs Mars rover Curiosity show that
rivers once flowed into a lake or lakes at
the bottom of Gale Crate, an enormous
dimple carved out by an incoming space
rock.
NASA said its interpretation of Curiositys
finds in Gale Crater suggests ancient Mars
maintained a climate that could have
produced long-lasting lakes at many
locations on the Red Planet.
The American space agency said Marss
261
Mount Sharp was built by sediments

deposited in a large lake bed over tens of
millions of years.
If our hypothesis for Mount Sharp holds
up, it challenges the notion that warm and
wet conditions were transient, local, or only
underground on Mars, said IndianAmerican Ashwin Vasavada, who is the
Curiosity deputy project scientist at
NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena.
The thickness of the rock outcrops indicates
that the lake or lakes must have
sloshed around the bottom of 154-km Gale
Crater over the course of millions of years,
though the lake probably dried up and then
reappeared a number of times, the
researchers said.
African Snail will make a comeback says
experts
The Giant African Snail, an invasive species
that has established itself in large parts of
the State, could re-emerge from its dormant
state and pose a greater menace before the
next wet spell, a consultative workshop
held warned.
The molluscs that have gone into
aestivation (period of hibernation to escape
summer heat and dryness) could come out
in a big way during the summer showers
and go on to expand their area of
distribution, according to T.V. Sajeev,
Entomologist and Head, Forest Health
division, Kerala Forest Research Institute
(KFRI), Peechi.
Experts participating in the workshop
cautioned against the use of chemicals to
control the snail that has ravaged crops and
posed a threat to native ecosystems in parts
of the State.
The workshop was organised by the Kerala
State Council for Science, Technology and
Environment (KSCSTE) and the Centre for

Innovation in Science and Social Action.
Highlighting the potential ecological
damage caused by chemicals, speakers
called for organic methods to check the
biological invasion.
In his presentation, Mr. Sajeev suggested
nicotine-based pesticides to keep a check
on snail populations. He said studies had
proved the efficacy of tobacco decoction to
quell the marauding pest.
The KFRI, he said, had initiated efforts to
develop a plant extract with molluscicidal
activity. It is important to ensure that the
control agent used against a pest does not
become a problem in itself, he said.
Responsibility of developed Countries
Stressed: Climate Summit
Both India and the United States stuck to
their respective stand on the differentiation
of countries according to the Kyoto
Protocol which had clear divisions for the
developed countries as annexe one and
developing countries as non annexe one.
Union
Minister
of
State
for
EnvironmentPrakash Javadekar said that
thisdifferentiation should remain as it is.
India is not in favour of rewriting the
Protocol to change the categorisation of
countries, he pointed out in a clear
indication that historical responsibilities of
the developed countries would continue to
be a determining factor in funding
adaptation and technology transfer. .
The BASIC or Brazil, South Africa, India,
and China group of countries will meet this
week and he said the countries are all on
the same page on several issues. They also
agreed that the intended nationally
determined contributions (INDCs) should
have a strong adaptation focus.
What carbon space have you released for
262

us to grow? Mr. Javadekar asked, adding
thatadaptation needs to be an essential
part ofthe INDCs of developed countries.
BASIC also wants developed countries to
make more meaningful financial
contributions.
Mr. Javadekar said India was opposed to
anex ante review process and he
saidcountries needed theinternal freedom
to determine their domestic climate action
needs.
Discarded laptop batteries have enough life to power
slums: Study
Discarded laptop batteries still have

enough life in them to power slums in India
and other developing countries, a new
study by IBM India has found.
The research presented at a conference in
San Jose, U.S., analysed a sample of
discarded batteries and found 70 per cent
had enough power to keep an LED light
on for more than four hours a day for a year.
According to researchers at IBM India,
many of the estimated 50 million lithium
ion laptop batteries discarded every year
could provide electricity storage sufficient
to light homes in developing countries.
It is possible to combine LED lights with
solar panels and rechargeable batteries,
however, using discarded batteries could
make the approach far cheaper, according
to MIT Technology Review.
The most costly component in these
systems is often the battery, said Vikas
Chandan, a research scientist at the labs
Smarter Energy Group, who led the project.
In this case, the most expensive part of
your storage solution is coming from
trash, Mr. Chandan said. The IBM group
extracted individual storage units called
cells to recombine them and form refurbished battery packs.
Bio-digester technology of
DRDO can give thrust to Swachh Bharat
campaign
A simple, low-cost technology for treating
human waste developed by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation
(DRDO) can aid in putting an end to open
defecation and manual scavenging in the
country.
The bio-digester technology of DRDO has
the potential to give a thrust to the
ambitious Clean India campaign, launched
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A recent report Progress on Drinking
Water and Sanitation, update 2014, by
WHO and UNICEF, estimates that about
597 million people in India resort to open
defecation, the highest in the world.
The target of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is to
provide each household in India a toilet,
both rural and urban, by 2019.
The numbers alone are of lesser
significance than the final disposal of
human waste involved. At present the
DRDOs technology is the best suited for
Indian environment both physical and
social.
The technology, which uses bacteria to treat
waste, was originally developed by the
Defence
Research
Development
Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior, to meet
the sanitation requirements of soldiers
serving in the high altitudes of Ladakh and
Siachen.
The system is built to operate from minus
20 degrees to plus 50 degrees and is highly
customisable as per the requirements and
local conditions.
The best feature is that it totally does away
with manual scavenging and is low on
maintenance and installation cost. This is
the best system of decentralised waste
263
treatment which is made to withstand any

geo-climatic conditions of the country.
Epidemic Outbreaks
Test Health Apparatus
Whenever there is an epidemics outbreak,
the health apparatus is put to the test. Most
of the burden in tackling epidemics falls
on the State since a majority of the
population flock to the Government
Hospitals and Primary Health Centres as
not many can afford the huge costs of
hospitalisation in private sector.
While the recent outbreak of Avian
Influenza or the bird flu in the
neighbouring State poses little risk to men,
since it does not easily infect human beings,
the State Health Department has put all
PHCs on Kerala border on alert. As it is a
virus-borne disease, it can spread quickly
and infect a lot of people in a short time.
Coimbatore is no stranger to epidemic
outbreaks. Right from Swine Flu to dengue
and diarrhoea, the city has seen it all since
its a major transmit point and also has an
international airport.
S. Somasundaram, Deputy Director of
Health Services, says while prevention
measures are given importance, the
department has also protocols in place to
contain outbreaks.
The foremost priority was identifying the
source of the outbreak such as mosquito
breeding points for dengue. These will be
destroyed and awareness programme will
be taken up among the public. The health
department has put in place protocols for
all diseases, he adds.
Coimbatore Medical College Hospital has
created an isolation ward to treat epidemic
outbreaks patients. Further, another
infectious disease ward has been created
to quarantine patients with deadle disease
such as Ebola, says the hospital Dean S.

Revwathy.
The bio-technology and microbiology
laboratories of the CMCH were equipped
to detect most of the viral-borne disease.
However, complicated cases such as ebola
are sent to the National Institute of
Virology, Pune, for confirmation, she adds.
Mental health programme to focus on the
elderly
Over the last few years, a lot of the patients
senior geriatrician V.S. Natarajan has seen
were in need of mental health services.
Financial, health and social problems
these are the issues the elderly have. With
many elderly citizens living alone in both
villages and cities as their children migrate
elsewhere for work, cases of depression
and dementia are on the rise, he said.
To take care of the mental health needs of
the elderly, an expansion of the district
mental health programme (DMHP) in
Tamil Nadu has been planned, under
which, psychiatrists in every district will
be trained to take care of geriatric needs.
Once a week, a special clinic for senior
citizens will be held.
We already have psychiatrists in 25
districts; in four others, psychiatrists are
being posted and in the three others, the
process has begun. Since we have the
infrastructure and the resources and have
a geriatric care policy in the State, we
decided to link them and meet this essential
need, a senior health official said.
This apart, caregivers will also be trained,
said the official. This is important as
caregivers too need to be trained in the
needs of the elderly.
This area is generally not looked into as
most caregivers are family members, but
we are planning to focus on this, he said.
264

There has been an increase in longevity
thanks to better healthcare, but the aim of
the DMHPs geriatric care services is to
improve the quality of life of senior
citizens, said State nodal officer, C.
Ramasubramanian.
NASAs Kepler spacecraft discovers SuperEarth
NASAs planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft,
which is carrying out a new mission, has
made its first exoplanet discovery a
super-Earth located 180 light-years from
Earth.
Lead researcher Andrew Vanderburg, a
graduate student at the HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, studied
publicly available data collected by the
spacecraft during a test of the new K2
mission in February 2014.
This led to the discovery of a planet, HIP
116454b, which is 2.5 times the diameter of
Earth and follows a close, nine-day orbit
around a star that is smaller and cooler than
our Sun, making the planet too hot for life
as we know it. HIP 116454b and its star are
180 light-years from Earth, toward the
constellation Pisces.
The discovery was confirmed with
measurements taken by the HARPS-North
spectrograph of the Telescopio Nazionale
Galileo in the Canary Islands, which
captured the wobble of the star caused by
the planets gravitational tug as it orbits.
HARPS-N showed that the planet weighs
almost 12 times as much as Earth. This
makes HIP 116454b a super-Earth, a class
of planets that does not exist in our solar
system. The exoplanet discovery was made
after astronomers and engineers
repurposed Kepler for its new mission.
Last summer, the possibility of a
scientifically productive mission for Kepler

after its reaction wheel failure in its
extended mission was not part of the
conversation, said Paul Hertz, NASAs
astrophysics division director at the
agencys headquarters in Washington.
Microsoft pitches for White-Fi technology
to provide last mile broadband connectivity
Microsoft is looking at starting a pilot
project of its White-Fi technology that uses
the unused spectrum in frequencies used
for broadcasting of television signals, and
is likely to offer solution to tackle the
problem of last mile broadband
connectivity in the country.
In a country of massive change, digital
divide can pose serious challenge. In all the
initiatives by the government Digital
India, Swachh Bharat or Jan-Dhan Yojna
technology has a role to play, and we want
to be part of it, Microsoft India Chairman
Bhaskar Pramanik said, adding that at
present, the company was talking to all
stakeholders, including the government,
for its White-Fi technology to provide last
mile connectivity.
We are waiting for licence to start our pilot
of the technology. Where ever spectrum is
involved government permission in
needed We will start with IIIT,
Bangalore. We may start with the campus,
but want to take it to rural areas to see how
it works with all natural barriers, he
added.
The pilot, once started, is expected to last
for about three months. Other countries
where Microsoft has helped implement the
technology are Kenya, Singapore, the U.S.
and London.
The 200-600 MHz frequency is used for TV
channels to carry data. In India, 93 per cent
of this spectrum is not utilised. White-Fi
265
will use this vacant spectrum to provide

connectivity.
In technology parlance, these unused
spectrum spaces are called White Space,
and many technology companies are
looking at using this to provide free last
mile internet access to users.
Under the Digital India initiative, the
government plans to use the national optic
fibre network project to deliver e-services
to all corner of the country.
INS Arihant (S2) may be of a limited utility
submarine
Indias first indigenous nuclear
submarine,INS Arihant(S2), which made
its first foray into the sea for mandatory
trials ahead of induction into the Navy,
may in effect be a limited utility submarine,
if not just a technology demonstrator.
The ballistic missile nuclear submarine
(SSBN), said to add the third dimension of
the nuclear triad by giving India the vital
survivable second-strike capability, falls
short of ensuring credible minimum
deterrence, sources said.
Worse, the capacity of the reactor suggests
thatArihantwill hardly be available for
operational patrol even for one-fifth of its
lifespan, having to spend great amounts of
time on transit to patrol areas.
The effective fuel inventory of the
submarine reactor is insufficient for longer
duration deployment of the vessel far away
from Indian shores, as it will necessitate
frequent fuel changes that are timeconsuming, said a Navy veteran, who was
previously associated with the project.
Fuel change in a submarine reactor, he said
is a protracted and cumbersome process
requiring the hull of the submarine to be
cut open.
The nuclear attack submarine (SSN) that

India operates on a 10-year lease from
Russia,INS Chakra(S1), for instance, is
said to have reactor with a longer effective
core life, granting it more time on patrol.
TheArihantproject the first of the three
SSBNs built by India under its ATV
[Advanced
Technology
Vessel]
programme under the supervision the
Prime Ministers Office and involving
agencies and establishments such as the
DRDO, the Department of Atomic Energy,
the Submarine Design Group of the
Directorate of Naval Design, besides
companies such as L&T had been under
wraps for decades until its high-voltage
launch in 2009.
The 83-MW uranium reactor, developed by
the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
(BARC) with generous support from
Russia, went critical in August last year.
The submarine should have entered service
in 2012, as originally planned.
The pollutants causing discolouration of Taj
Mahal identified
Finally, the specific pollutants in the air that
are responsible for the discolouration of the
white marble of Taj Mahal have been
identified. Particulate carbon and fine dust
particles that are deposited on the marble
are responsible for its browning.
Carbon is of two types black carbon and
light absorbing organic carbon or brown
carbon. The results from a study were
published a few days ago in the
journalEnvironmental Science &
Technology.
Besides studying air samples collected
from the area, the authors used marble
samples on the building to collect the
pollutants. They also undertook computer
modelling to study the colour change
266
brought about by reflectance of the

particles.
Both organic carbon and dust particles
have the ability to preferentially absorb
light in the blue region of the spectrum. The
absorption of blue light by these pollutants
in turn gives the marble surface a brown
hue.
There is one group of organic carbon
which absorbs light in the blue region of
the spectrum and this is called brown
carbon.
Discolouration is because of what is
happening to reflectance, and reflectance
is in turn influenced by these particles,
said Prof. S.N. Tripathi from the
Department of Civil Engineering and
Centre for Environmental Science and
Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Kanpur. He is one of the
authors of the paper.
The ability of fine dust particles to produce
the brown hue is a well known in North
India. According to him, it is the presence
of haematite in the dust that is responsible
for the brown hue.
Coconut plucking, women take high Wages

Even though Cuddalore district abounds
in coconut trees, the price of coconuts is
high. The reason trotted out for such
market behaviour is the lack of manpower
to pluck coconuts or the high wages the
workers demand.
It has created a situation in which even the
ripe coconuts are left either to rot on the
trees or fall. It has become consternation
for the coconut growers to find the
workforce on time to harvest, not to speak
of the plight of the households having a few
coconut trees in their garden.
To overcome the problem, the M.S.
Swaminatan Research Foundation
(MSSRF) has launched the Friends of

Coconut Tree programme for farmers and
the unemployed youth.
R. Elangovan, Project Officer of the MSSRF,
told that the six-day training programme
organised under the aegis of the MSSRF
Village Resource Centre at Parangipettai
was intended to help the farmers and
unemployed youth learn to climb trees to
pluck the coconut.
To start with, 20 persons, including four
women hailing from Killai, Nochikadu,
Manikkollai and Parangipettai, joined the
programme conducted recently.
It was conducted in coordination with the
Coconut Development Board that provided
the device for climbing the trees free of cost.
It was a sort of an in-house training as the
trainees would stay at the Parangipettai
centre throughout the training programme.
Besides mastering the tree climbing
techniques, they were also taught yoga and
pranayam.
Mr Elangovan said the Coconut
Development Board had made it
mandatory that 30 per cent of the trainees
ought to be women. It was a surprise that
four women had come forward to enroll
their names in the programme.
Remote powered solar ploughing machine

developed by engineering students
Ploughing is an arduous task. It takes time
and involves physical labour. More farmers
now use a tractor for ploughing, than those
who still depend on traditional bullocks.
But a tractor does not come for free. The
fuel charges, the drivers wages all need to
be borne by the farmer who rents it. And
the charges easily work out to anything
between Rs.3,000 to Rs. 3,500 for ploughing
an acre.
267
And the next issue is the vehicles

availability to source it on time. In some
villages, farmers book the vehicle in
advance since it would be busy on rent for
days together.
These things can change seems to be the
concept of a group of engineering students
from Mailam Engineering College,
Tindivanam, Villupuram district, Tamil
Nadu which has devised a new solar
powered plougher to till fields.
Mr. I.Vetrivel, Mr.V.K.Arun, Mr.
K.Sivaraman and Mr. V.Premnath
comprise the group of final year electronics
and communication engineering students
who developed this device.
Basically our college is situated in an
agricultural region and there are plenty of
fields surrounding our campus. And many
of our students come from agricultural
families. As part of annual project work
these four students wanted to try doing
something different.
DNA reveals history of horse domestication:
scientists
Speed, smarts, and the heart of a champion:
using genomic analysis, scientists have
identified DNA changes that helped turn
ancient horses such as those in prehistoric
cave art into todays Secretariats and Black
Beautys, researchers reported.
Understanding the genetic changes
involved in equine domestication, which
earlier research traced to the wind-swept
steppes of Eurasia 5,500 years ago, has long
been high on the wish list of evolutionary
geneticists because of the important role
that taming wild horses played in the
development of civilization.
Once merchants, soldiers and explorers

could gallop rather than just walk, it
revolutionized trade, warfare, the
movement of people and the transmission
of ideas.
It also enabled the development of
continent-sized empires such as the
Scythians 2,500 years ago in what is now
Iran. It was all made possible by 125 genes,
concluded the study in Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.
Related to skeletal muscles, balance,
coordination, and cardiac strength, they
produced traits so desirable that ancient
breeders selected horses for them, said
geneticist Ludovic Orlando of the Natural
History Museum of Denmark, who led the
study.
The result was generations of horses
adapted for chariotry, pulling plows, and
racing. Genes active in the brain also
underwent selection. Variants linked to
social behavior, learning, fear response,
and agreeableness are all more abundant
in domesticated horses.
The discovery of the genetic basis for horse
domestication was a long time coming
because no wild descendants of ancient
breeds survive.
The closest is the Przewalskis horse. By
comparing domesticated species to their
wild relatives, scientists figured out how
organisms as different as rice, tomatoes and
dogs became domesticated.
With no truly wild horses to study,
Orlandos team examined DNA from 29
horse bones discovered in the Siberian
permafrost and dating from 16,000 and
43,000 years ago, and compared it to DNA
from five modern domesticated breeds.
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268
Sports
Bangladesh, India in Final

India and Bangladesh, the top two teams,
made the final of the SAARC golf
championship.
On the penultimate day of the
championship at the KGA course, India
defeated Bhutan, while Bangladesh
swamped a hapless Afghanistan in the
semifinals. Both teams winning the 36-hole
Match Play round without dropping a
match.
The 18-hole morning session set the tone
with Indias top amateur Viraj Madappa
essaying a flawless, bogey free round to
beat Bhutans Karma Wangchuk 8 and 7.
Pukhraj Singh Gill then beat Bhutans Capt.
(retd) B.B. Gurung 7 and 5. But the India
team captain Jaibir Singh was stretched to
the fourth extra hole by Bhutans Tshendra
Dorgi.
In the sudden death play-off with both
players level after three holes, Jaibir Singh
landed his tee shot on the green of the short,
par-3 fourth hole and duly holed out for a
par. But Dorgi failed to chip and putt

finishing with a bogey.
India was as invincible in the afternoon
session with Madappa and Gill winning by
identical 6 and 5 margins.
Bangladesh, clearly the favourite in its
semifinal against Afghanistan won all its
three matches in the morning session.
India and Bangladesh will face off in the
final .
Ethiopias Geremew and Daska emerge
victorious
Kenyas stranglehold over the TCS World
10K was broken in absorbing fashion as
Ethiopias Mosinet Geremew and Mamitu
Daska emerged victorious.
The previous five mens and three womens
winners had all come from Kenya but there
was to be no encore.
Geremew finished in a time of 28:16, with
compatriot Fikadu Seboka two seconds behind him. The pair ran a cautious race, not
wishing to set the pace at any stage but
269
making sure to stay within striking distance of the leader at all times. Edwin
Kiptoo was third.
Kogo, the former world record holder and
the pre-race favourite, was unable to find
the same finishing kick and settled for
fourth.
The winners earned $21,000 each in prize
money while the top Indian finishers were
awarded Rs. 2.5 lakh each.
Sania-Hingis duo loses Rome Masters final
The Indo-Swiss tennis combine of Sania
Mirza and Martina Hingis did not live up
to expectations as the top seeds were upset
by Hungarian-French pair of Timea Babos
and Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets in
the womens doubles final of the $2,428,490
Rome Masters.
The third seeds took just an hour and 13
minutes to come out on top with a 64,
63 win on the outdoor clay courts of Foro
Italico in the first ever match between the
two pairs.
This was Sania and Martinas, ranked
World No.1 and 2 respectively, fourth final
together, having won at Indian Wells,
Miami and Charleston earlier in the year.
The match did not go in favour of the top
seeds right from the start as Sania and
Martina were shocked in the fifth game of
the first set when Timea and Kristina broke
them and held serve to extend the lead to
42.
Sania and Martina finally earned two
breakpoints for the first time in the match
when the the third seeds were looking to
close the set on their service game at 54.
However, both opportunities were wasted
as Timea and Kristina won the set to take
the lead in the match in only 38 minutes.
The third seeds took the momentum into
the second set as they immediately broke
their opponents. But Sania and Martina

reverted by breaking back and levelling the
set at 11.
The next four service games were held by
both teams but the third seeds once again
stunned the Indo-Swiss combo by breaking
them in the seventh game of the set. They
held serve to extend the lead to 53.
Within no time, Timea and Kritina had two
matchpoints. The first was saved by the top
seeds but the Hungarian-French pair
converted the second to earn the vital
crown.
Bronze for Archana
Indias Archana Kamath won a bronze
medal in the cadet girls singles at the
Thailand Open table tennis tournament .
Archana lost 11-9, 11-7, 11-8 to Chinese
Taipeis Chen Ting-Ting, the eventual
winner, in the semifinals.
Djokovic, Sharapova win Rome titles
Novak Djokovic scored a 6-4, 6-3 win over
Roger Federer to capture his fourth Rome
Masters title.
Djokovic also won the Rome title in 2008,
2011 and last year.
In the womens tournament, Maria
Sharapova beat 10th-seeded Carla Suarez
Navarro 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to win her third Rome
title.
Sharapovas first two titles in Rome came
back-to-back in 2011 and 2012.
ICC committee recommends removal of
batting PowerPlay
The ICC Cricket Committee recommended
the removal of batting PowerPlay besides
allowing five fielders outside the circle in
the last 10 overs.
The committee, headed by former India
270
captain Anil Kumble, discussed the ODI

playing conditions, code of conduct as far
as player behaviour is concerned, illegal
bowling actions, use of technology and
helmet safety among other issues.
The Cricket Committee will recommend to
the Chief Executives Committee that there
should be three changes to the ODI fielding
restrictions: the requirement to have two
compulsory catchers in the first 10 overs
be removed, the batting PowerPlay be
removed and that five fieldsmen be
allowed outside the circle from overs 4150 instead of four.
In an attempt to strike a balance between
bat and ball, the ICC will not introduce a
regulation about the size of bats, but it will
provide input on this issue to the MCC
through the consultation process ahead of
the re-drafting of the Laws of Cricket in
2017.
The committee reiterated its previous edict
that boundaries at international venues
needed to be set-up to the maximum size
at each venue. The committee asked ICC
to investigate ways in which no balls can
be reviewed quickly upon the fall of a
wicket and also recommended that all noballs in ODI and T20I cricket should result
in a free hit.
The committee supported the stronger
stance being taken against inappropriate
player behaviour, and was concerned at the
increasing number of send-offs.
There was also strong support for the
current practice of suspending captains for
over rate breaches.
There was a discussion on the performance
of DRS and the use of technology in
umpiring.
There was a presentation on helmet safety,
particularly the development of the new
British Standard for cricket helmets, and
the increasing number of manufacturers

that now make helmets that are certified
to this new standard.
Whilst the committee did not believe the
wearing of helmets should be mandatory
at international level, it did strongly
recommend that all helmets worn by
international players should be certified to
this new British Standard.
The Cricket Committees remit is to discuss
cricket-playing matters and to make
recommendations to the ICC Chief
Executives Committee and the ICC Board
that will meet in Barbados during the apex
bodys annual conference week, from June
22 to 26.
We have enjoyed two very productive
days of meetings in which the committee
discussed a wide range of issues affecting
the global game through practical
examples and illustrations, said Kumble,
the committees chairman.
Bayliss appointed England head coach
Australian Trevor Bayliss has been
appointed as the new head coach of
England, the England and Wales Cricket
Board (ECB) announced .
The 52-year-old former Sri Lanka coach
succeeds the sacked Peter Moores, having
been preferred to his compatriot Jason
Gillespie, the Yorkshire coach, who was the
initial favourite for the job.
Trevor has an outstanding record as
coach, has global experience and is very
highly regarded in the game, said the
ECBs director of cricket Andrew Strauss
in a press release.
Currently coach of New South Wales,
Bayliss will take charge of England in time
for the start of their home Ashes series
against Australia in July.
271
He has proved himself in both domestic

and international cricket, has a strong
reputation for man-management and has
shown how to build winning teams in all
three formats, Strauss added.
His expertise in the shorter forms of the
game will be vital as we build towards
three major ICC events over the next four
years; the ICC World T20 tournament in
India in 2016 and the ICC Champions
Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup, which
will be staged in England and Wales in 2017
and 2019 respectively.
Strauss confirmed that Bayliss will work
alongside current caretaker coach Paul
Farbrace, who steered England to a stirring
124-run win over New Zealand in the first
Test at Lords, which concluded on
Monday.
Farbrace will remain in charge for the second Test at Headingley, starting , and the
following limited-overs matches. Bayliss
worked with Farbrace during his time as
coach of Sri Lanka, who he led to the final
of the 2011 World Cup.
Its an honour to be appointed England
coach, said Bayliss.
Theres a great opportunity to help (Test
captain) Alastair Cook and (one-day captain) Eoin Morgan shape the direction and
development of their respective teams.
I am also looking forward to working
alongside Paul Farbrace once again as we
have a similar outlook on the game, get on
well after two years working together and
have kept in touch.
Ministry considers recognising regional
federations
The Union sports ministry has decided to
consider granting recognition to sports
bodies dealing with indigenous disciplines
as Regional Sports Federations (RSFs).
In a release, the ministry said in order to

promote such disciplines and give them
due acknowledgement it would take up the
cases of such sports bodies and consider
them for recognition with the approval of
the competent authority.
However, the ministry said these bodies
must fulfil some conditions. Accordingly,
the sports disciplines (a) must be popular
in a region/ state and played in one or more
states, (b) should have been played in the
region for at least last 10 years, (c) RSFs
seeking recognition should have conducted
championships at senior, junior and subjunior levels and (d) in case there is an
international federation for a discipline, the
National body should have the recognition
of the global outfit (in case there are several
bodies at the international level for one
sport and if more than one RSF apply for
recognition, then the Government shall
take a decision in the matter).
The ministry clarified that a particular
condition, which required a National
Sports Federation to have affiliated units
in two-third of the state/ union territories,
will not be applicable for the grant of
recognition to RSFs.
Bolt wins 200m at rain-hit Ostrava
Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt overcame
rain-soaked, chilly conditions to streak to
his new season best in winning his
favoured 200 metres at Golden Spike meet.
In the eastern Czech city of Ostrava, the 28year-old world and Olympic champion
who also holds the world 100 and 200m
records, clocked 20.13 seconds, almost a
second behind his world record of 19.19sec
set in 2009.
In his only previous appearance over 200m
this season, and following a string of
injuries that plagued him in 2014, Bolt
272
timed 20.20sec on home soil in Kingston,

Jamaica, in April. It is the first time since
2007 that Bolt has run two back-to-back
200m slower than 20sec.
Bolt said he had wanted to go under the
20-second barrier but the conditions
didnt allow and Im coming back from an
injury so its going to take time.
For me it was not a perfect day but Im
just happy to have gotten out at least injuryfree, he said.
Bolt said he was feeling better ahead of
Diamond League meets in New York and
Paris.
U.S sprinter Charonda Williams won the
womens 200 metres in 23.12 seconds.
Kochi gets provisional nod to host FIFA

under-17 World Cup
Kochi has been provisionally selected as a
host of the 2017 under-17 FIFA World Cup.
Tournament Director Javier Ceppi and
Project Director Joy Bhattacharya
announced this at the Jawaharlal Nehru
Stadium.
Less than five cities have been selected,
Kochi is one of them, said Ceppi, who also
revealed that Kochi was one of his personal
favourites.
Two major inspections, by a FIFA panel,
will be held next year in January and
September before the six venues in the
country which will host the league phase
of the World Cup are confirmed. But Kochi
is a strong favourite not only to host the
league matches but also one or two
knockout matches.
However it will depend on many factors,
including the enthusiasm and crowd
turnout at the venue, indicated Ceppi.
The four training grounds in Ernakulam
Maharajas Stadium, the Panampilly Nagar
Sports Academy, Fort Kochi Veli Ground

and Kerala University of Fisheries and
Ocean Studies (KUFOS) at Panangad
were announced as the training grounds.
The training site agreement for the first
three venues were handed over to Ceppi
and agreement for the KUFOS ground is
expected to be signed in a few days.
Apart from the work on the turf, dressing
rooms and floodlights will be set up at all
the training grounds.
Around Rs. 40 crore are likely to be spent
on the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main
venue here, and between Rs. 3 to 4 crore
on each training ground.
The visiting group, which included Head
of Venue Inspections Roma Khanna, also
held a Kickoff Workshop a series of
meetings with the various stakeholders in
Kochi.
Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany, Kerala
Governments Nodal Officer for the World
Cup Mohammed Hanish, KFA President
K.M.I. Mather were among those present
at the event.
IOC emerges champion

Indian Oil Sports and Recreation Club won
the TNCA VI Division title beating IAF
(Tambaram) in the championship match to
clinch the P.V.H. Babu Shield.
Indian Oil Sports & Recreation Club also
won the P.C. Ramudu Shield for the VI division B zone, with 28 points winning all
its seven matches. D.G. Karthik was the
leading run-scorer for IOC with 336 runs
while S. Karthik was the leading wickettaker for the club with 26 wickets.
IAF (Tambaram) won the T.K.N. Babu
Shield for the VI Division A zone, with 26
points from seven matches that included
six wins and a tie.
IAF (Tambaram), Eccentrics Cricket Club,
273
Indian Oil Sports and Recreation Club and

Lusuraj Cricket Club are promoted to fifth
division for the 2015-16 season.
Russia, Qatar confirmed as hosts
FIFA general-secretary Jerome Valcke,
confirmed Russia and Qatar will host the
World Cups in 2018 and 2022 respectively,
despite the ongoing corruption scandal
affecting footballs governing body.
A separate criminal investigation into how
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups were
allocated has also begun, but Valcke
confirmed Russia and Qatar will host the
next two finals, as far as FIFA is concerned.
Yes, when you ask me the question today,
the 2018 World Cup will be played in
Russia, then in Qatar four years later, from
all the information we currently have, said
Valcke.
Chen Long and Carolina emerge champions
World No 1 Chen Long was taken to three
games before downing Denmarks Viktor
Axelsen to win the Australian Open
badminton superseries final.
The Chinese star defeated world number
nine Axelsen in one hour and 17 minutes.
Chen now leads Axelsen in their
tournament meetings.
Chen had reached the mens final after
beating 10th-ranked Tian Houwei in an allChinese semifinal.
Spains world number three Carolina
Marin took the womens singles in a tight
contest with Chinas sixth-ranked Wang
Shixian in just under an hour.
It was a big week for the Spaniard, who
beat South Koreas world number seven
Sung Ji-Hyun to reach final after losing to
Indias Saina Nehwal in last years
tournament decider.
Deepika wins bronze

Deepika Kumari outclassed Chang Hye Jin
of Korea in straight sets to clinch the bronze
medal in the womens individual recurve
event of the World Cup.
The in-form Deepika kept the tri-colour
flying high after veteran Dola Banerjee,
Satbir Kaur and Snehal Divakar all lost in
the first round of the individual recurve.
National anthem jeered
The Spanish government has called a
meeting to discuss possible sanctions after
the national anthem was loudly jeered
ahead of the final.
A capacity crowd of 99,000 supporters
filled Barcas Camp Nou stadium for the
clash, but the game had a controversial
beginning as supporters of both clubs
drowned out the traditional playing of the
anthem with whistles.
The government condemns the attacks
against symbols which represent all
Spaniards, the democracy that protects us,
the governments press department said.
A letter had been sent to both clubs before
the final, warning that punishment would
be forthcoming if the playing of the anthem
was not respected.
Indian grapplers win four more golds
The Indian grapplers ended their campaign
on a high in the International Wrestling
tournament in Sassari City, Italy, bagging
as many as nine medals, including eight
gold in the mens freestyle event.
Sonu (61kg), Somvir (86kg), Mausam
Khatri (97kg) and Hitender (125kg) bagged
a gold each in their respective weight
categories.
Earlier, Amit Kumar (57kg), Yogeshwar
Dutt (65kg), Praveen Rana (70kg) and
274

Narsingh Yadav (74kg) had also clinched
the gold.
Rajneesh was the lone Indian wrestler who
returned with a bronze in 65kg freestyle
division.
McCullum, Hesson honoured
New Zealands unprecedented success in
reaching the Cricket World Cup final
earlier this year has resulted in honours for
captain Brendon McCullum and coach
Mike Hesson.
Both were appointed Officers of the New
Zealand Order of Merit (NZOM) in the
Queen Elizabeth II Birthday Honours list
released.
Therese Walsh, head of the New Zealand
organising committee for the 2015 World
Cup, which was co-hosted with Australia,
was made a Dame Companion of the
NZOM.
Hesson said he hoped the accolades would
be seen as recognition for the entire New
Zealand team, both on and off the field.
AIFF had earlier signed a MoU with the
Japan Football Association in February 2015
General Secretary of AIFF, Kushal Das was
also present on the occasion.
As per the agreement, the two parties have
decided to cooperate with each other in
order to develop strong ties between their
respective associations for the mutual
benefit of each association and for the
promotion, growth and continued success
of football in each country.
It also highlighted the collaboration and
cooperation through management and
officials, technical experts, coaches,
referees, etc. Exchanges regarding training
of technical personnel and organisational
procedures.
Availability of sports centres or

installations for competition, training and
camps as and where possible in accordance
with availability and suitability, have also
been agreed upon.
Besides, support for the preparation of the
Indian team for the FIFA Under-17 World
Cup 2017 to be hosted by India, in terms of
exposure trips for matches with French
teams and participation in youth
tournaments in France have also been
talked about.
Windies lose three wickets
West Indies reached 85 for three at lunch
after opting to bat against Australia on the
opening day of the first cricket Test at the
Windsor Park.
Debutant Shane Dowrich, undefeated on
15, and Marlon Samuels (batting 3) took the
hosts to the interval.
Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, and
Mitchell Johnson each claimed a wicket.
Brathwaite and Hope added 23 for the
opening wicket after captain Denesh
Ramdin won the toss. Fast bowler
Hazlewood drew a tentative stroke from
Brathwaite, who edged to wicketkeeper
Brad Haddin.
Lyon, chosen as the only specialist spinner,
induced an edge from Bravo and captain
Michael Clarke lunged low to his left to
pluck a brilliant one-handed catch.
Johnson removed Hope who drove loosely
outside the off stump and Shaun Marsh
took a fine diving catch at gully.
Kalmadi conferred top Asian award
Scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi has been
conferred the Asian Athletics Association
presidents award for his contribution towards the development of athletics in the
continent at the AAA gala dinner and
275
award ceremony.
Kalmadi, who was jailed and later released
on bail in connection with the 2010 Commonwealth Games scam, served as president of AAA for 13 years from 2000 to 2013.
Athletics Federation of India president
Adille Sumariwala received the award on
behalf of Kalmadi from AAA president
Dahlan Al-Hamad of Qatar at the function
held ahead of the start of Asian Athletics
Championships.
Silver medals for Poovamma and Liksy
M.R. Poovamma, the fastest qualifier in the
semifinals, retained her 400m silver while
Liksy Joseph came up with an inspired
performance for the heptathlon silver with
a personal best as Indias women athletes
did themselves proud at the 21st Asian
athletics championship.
Purnima Hembram, a former Asian junior
champion, followed Liksy for the womens
heptathlon bronze, and in the mens
section, G. Lakshmanan won the 5,000m
bronze bettering his personal best by nearly
14 seconds.
Qatars Femi Ogunode did what he had
been promising for some time by lowering
his own Asian 100m record to a stunning
9.91s. That should make him the fifth fastest
man in the world this year.
The Nigeria-born Ogunode had set the
previous mark of 9.93 while winning the
Asian Games gold in Incheon last year.
There were disappointments too for India,
with both the countrys eight-metre longjumpers, Ankit Sharma (7.76m) and K.
Prem Kumar (7.69m) finishing fourth and
fifth respectively.
Ankit was in the medal range for a brief
while before going down. An eight-metre
jump would have fetched them gold, for it
was with a 7.96m that Chinas Goa
Xinglong took the top spot.

Poovamma, the Asian Games bronze
medallist who has a personal best of 51.73s,
was in fact quicker in semifinal which she
topped with 52.94s. Her silver, behind
Chinas Yang Huizhen, came in 53.07s.
Arokia Rajeev, also an Incheon Asiad
bronze medallist, was seventh in the mens
400m while Srabani Nanda was fifth in the
womens 100m.
The womens sprint relay team finished
fourth and the men sixth. Suprisingly
Manikanda Arumugam, who had helped
the team to qualify for the Asians in 39.11s
in the controversial trials in Bengaluru
recently, was not part of the mens relay
squad which finished in 39.67s.
Qatars Mohamad Al Garni, who had won
the mens 1,500m, completed a distance
double by taking the 5,000m title.
Ravi in ICC Elite Panel
Ending an 11-year wait, S. Ravi became the
first Indian after S. Venkataraghvan to be
inducted in the International Cricket
Councils (ICC) Elite Panel of Umpires
following an annual review and selection
process.
New Zealands Chris Gaffaney and Ravi
were promoted from the International
Panel of Umpires to the Elite Panel,
replacing Kiwi veteran Billy Bowden and
the retiring Steve Davis, stated an ICC
media release.
Ravi has umpired in six Tests, 24 ODIs and
12 T20Is, since making his international
debut in Visakhapatnam in December 2011
in an ODI between India and the West
Indies.
Both Ravi and Gaffaney umpired in the
World Cup earlier this year in Australia
and New Zealand.
Elite Panel of Umpires for 2015-2016:
276

Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais
Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould,
Richard
Illingworth,
Richard
Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, S. Ravi, Paul
Reiffel, Rod Tucker and Bruce Oxenford.
Kashyap stuns world No. 1 Long
P. Kashyap rallied to shock world No. 1
Chen Long, continuing his giant-killing
spree to enter the mens singles semifinals
even as Saina Nehwal bowed out with a
loss to familiar foe Wang Shixian in the
Indonesian Open Super Series badminton
tournament.
Kashyap, ranked 12th in the world, came
from behind to beat the top-seeded Chinese
in a contest that lasted an hour and three
minutes.
The Commonwealth Games gold-medallist
was consistent with his smashes and
impeccable with his net play against a more
fancied opponent.
FIFA suspends 2026 World Cup bidding
FIFA announced it had suspended the
bidding process to host the 2026 World Cup
amid the furore surrounding corruption
probes at the organisation.
It was decided to place the administrative
process on hold for the 2026 FIFA World
Cup bidding due to the current situation,
a FIFA statement said.
Further decisions regarding the 2026 FIFA
World Cup bidding process will be
discussed by the FIFA Executive
Committee at a later date.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke had
announced in March that the host country
for the 2026 tournament would be decided
at a FIFA congress in Kuala Lumpur in
2017.
But footballs world governing body was
then plunged into a crisis at the end of last
month when 14 current or former FIFA

officials and sports marketing executives
were arrested in Zurich. Due to the
situation, I think its nonsense to start any
bidding process for the time being. It will
be postponed, Valcke said at a news
conference. in the Russian 2018 World Cup
host city of Samara on Wednesday after
meeting the local officials there.
Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference
in Paris, UEFA president Michel Platini
admitted the news did not come as a
surprise.
There was due to be a vote in 2017 but
there is no leadership at FIFA so its a good
thing, said Platini.
Interpol suspends deal with FIFA
International police body Interpol
announced it was suspending a 10-year
partnership deal with FIFA worth $22
million following a corruption probe into
footballs world governing body.
Interpol boss Juergen Stock said he was
suspending the deal set up in May 2011 to
create a 10-year Integrity in Sport
programme.
In light of the current context surrounding
FIFA, while Interpol is still committed to
developing our Integrity in Sport
programme, I have decided to suspend the
agreement, said Stock in a statement.
All external partners, whether public or
private, must share the fundamental values
and principles of the organisation, as well
as those of the wider law enforcement
community, added Stock.
Interpol noted that the agreement with
FIFA included a clause stating that the
funding party declares ... that its activities
are compatible with the principles, aims
and activities of Interpol.
277
New Zealand takes 2-1 ODI series lead in

England
Fluent centuries by Kane Williamson and
Ross Taylor powered New Zealand to a
comfortable three-wicket win over England
in the third one-day international in
Southampton.
After England collapsed from 288 for five
to 302 all out, New Zealand initially
struggled in reply before Williamson and
Taylor took the game away from the hosts
with a clinical 206-run third-wicket stand.
The exemplary Williamson struck 12 fours
in his 118 before he was caught at mid-off
by Mark Wood off David Willey the ball
after lofting a sweetly-timed straight six.
Grant Elliott fell for five but by the time
Taylor played a ball from Willey on to his
stumps for 110 his side needed only 13 off
the last 4.1 overs.
Luke Ronchi tried to finish the job in
spectacular style by smearing Ben Stokes
over the boundary rope but was caught by
Jason Roy. It only delayed the inevitable,
though, and Tim Southee hit the winning
runs with an over to spare.
Hulkenberg drives Porsche to victory
Porsche broke Audis five-race
stranglehold at the Le Mans 24 Hours race,
with Nico Hulkenberg becoming the first
active F1 driver to win here since Britains
Johnny Herbert in 1991.
The German, driving the No.19 works
Porsche he shared with New Zealands Earl
Bamber and Briton Nick Tandy, took the
chequered flag ahead of the No.17 Porsche
of Aussie Mark Webber, New Zealands
Brendon Hartley and Germanys Timo
Bernhard.
Audis defending champions Andre
Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel
Faessler completed the podium places.

Sumit, Karman win titles
Fifth seeded Sumit Nagal beat third seed
Mate Valkusz of Hungary while Karman
Kaur Thandi outplayed Jessica Hinojosa
Gomez of Mexico win the boys and girls
singles titles in the ITF grade-1 junior tennis
tournament in Offenbach, Germany.
This was Karmans maiden grade-1 title,
and will help her move up from her (junior)
ranking of 157 past her career-best 133.
In the $10,000 ITF tournament in Sharm El
Sheik, Egypt, second seed Rishika Sunkara
lost eighth seed Sara Tomic in the
semifinals.
B.R. Nikshep and Dhruv Sunish won the
boys doubles title at the ITF grade-4
tournament in Jakarta, beating Taipeis Yu
Hsiou Hsu and Ho Jun Lee.
Australia Wins
ICC World Cup 2015
Australia on 29 March 2015 won the ICC
Cricket World Cup 2015 for the record fifth
time. In the final match Australia defeated
co-hosts of the tournament, New Zealand
by 7 wickets played at the iconic Melbourne
Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia.
In the final match, New Zealand had won
the toss and had chosen to bat first. They
had set the target of 183 runs to Australia
after losing all wickets in the 45th over.
Australian team easily overhauled the
target in the 34th over with 7 wickets in
hand.
In the final match, Australian bowlers
James Faulkner and Mitchell Johnson had
bagged 3 wickets each, while Mitchell Starc
had claimed two wickets. Captain Michael
Clarke had scored 74 runs and Steve Smith
56 runs. Previously, Australia had won the
Cricket World Cup in 1987, 1999, 2003 and
278

2007. It was first time of New Zealand to
enter final of Cricket World Cup. In the
previous world cups they were defeated
for six times in the semi-finals.
NZ Bags Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey
Tournament 2015
New Zealand has won the 24th edition of
Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament
2015 for second time. In the final match,
New Zealand defeated World Champions
Australia by 3-1 goals in the penalty shootout. In regulation 60 minutes time, both
teams had tied at 2-2 goals. Earlier, New
Zealand had won the Sultan Azlan Shah
Hockey Tournament in 2012. It is third time
Australia came as runner-ups position in
tournament (1999, 2006 and 2015). India
won the bronze i.e. finished third by
defeating South Korea by 4-1 goals in the
penalty shoot-out after both the teams were
tied at 2-2 at regulation time.
Sania Mirza Ranked World Number One in
Doubles
Sania Mirza created history by achieving
the feat of becoming world No.1 in WTA
tennis rankings. She is the first woman
tennis player from India to do so after
winning the Family Circle Cup final
partnering with Martina Hingis.
The top-seeded pair overwhelmed Casey
Dellacqua and Darija Jurak in the lop-sided
final of the $731,000 clay court event. Sania
took 470 points from the win to take her
tally to 7965 as she jumped past Italys Sara
Errani (7640) and Roberta Vinci (7640) to
sit atop the ranking table.
Before Sania, only Leander Paes and
Mahesh Bhuapthi had achieved the top
rank when they dominated mens doubles
circuit in the late 90s.
Sania is also first female player from the
country to win Grand Slam tournaments.

It is Sanias third successive title win with
Hingis and they have not lost as a single
match since joining forces in March. They
won trophy in Indian Wells, which was
their first tournament together and
followed up that with win in Miami.
Lewis Hamilton Wins Bahrain Grand Prix of
Formula One
Mercedes Formula 1 driver Lewis
Hamilton from Britain won Bahrain Grand
Prix of Formula One on the the Sakhir
Grand Prix Circuit. This was his third win
of the season and his second Bahrain Grand
Prix win. It was also Lewis Hamiltons
overall 36th Grand Prix win. In Bahrain
Grand Prix, Hamilton was followed by
Ferrari F1 driver Sebastian Vettel of
Germany to the second position.
Earlier in the same month on 12 April 2015
he had won Chinese Grand Prix of Formula
One on the Shanghai International Circuit
in China.
Jitu Rai Wins Bronze Medal
in ISSF Shooting World Cup
Celebrated Indian shooter Jitu Rai shot his
way to a bronze medal in the mens 10metre air pistol event in the ISSF Shooting
World Cup held in in Changwon, South
Korea.
An Asian and Commonwealth Games
gold-medallist, Jitu aggregated a total of
181.1 points to finish third on the podium,
missing out on the gold medal shoot-out
by 0.4 points. Jin Jongoh of Korea won the
yellow metal with a score of 206.0, beating
Naung Ye Tun of Myanmar (201.0) in the
gold medal shoot-out.
This is Jitus seventh medal in international
events, following a run that started last
June. Jitus compatriots in the 10m air
279
pistol, Prakash Nanjappa and Gurpreet

Singh finished 18th and 48th, respectively
in the qualification round.
Apurvi Chandela another Indian shooter
has also won Bronze medal in the 10-metre
air rifle in the same event. She won the
bronze after she shot score of 185.6 in the
qualifying fifth final round. With this win,
Apurvi Chandela has qualified for the 2016
Olympics, which will be held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. She was placed at third
position in the list of eight-strong
competitors. Among these eight
competitors six were qualified for the
Olympics. It should be noted that Apurvi
Chandela is the second Indian marksman
after pistol shooter Jitu Rai to qualify for
the Rio Olympics.
Gujarat Clinches Syed
Mushtaq Ali T-20 Cricket Trophy
Gujarat won the Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20
cricket trophy for the tournament season
2014-15. In the final match played at KIIT
Stadium, Odisha they defeated Punjab by
two wickets.
Syed Mushtaq Ali T-20 Trophy is a
Twenty20 cricket domestic championship
in India named after famous Indian
cricketer, Syed Mushtaq Ali. Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
organizes the tournament and played
among the teams from Ranji Trophy.
Inaugural season of tournament was 200809 and was won by Maharashtra cricket
team.
Y Pranjala Wins Asian
Junior Tennis Championship
Indias Y Pranjala clinched the Asian Junior
Tennis championship title after a comefrom-behind victory over top seed Chinese
Zheng Wushuang at New Delhi.
The second seeded Indian won with a 5-7

6-2 7-5 scoreline in the final against her
formidable rival, who happened to be her
doubles partner in the event.
It was double delight for the 16-year-old
Pranjala as she had won the doubles
trophy.
Miami Open Title 2015
Mens Singles Title: World No. 1 and
Serbian ace tennis player Novak Djokovic
has won the 2015 Miami Open Mens
Singles Title. In the final match he defeated
Britains Andy Murray by 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-0
score. This was Djokovics fifth Miami
Open trophy.
Womens singles Title: World No. 1 and
American ace tennis player Serena
Williams has won the 2015 Miami Open
Womens singles Title. In the final match
she defeated Spains Carla Surez Navarro
by 6-2, 6-0 score.
Mens doubles Title: American Bob Bryan
and Mike Bryan pair has won the 2015
Miami Open Mens doubles Title. In the
final match they defeated Vasek Pospisil
(Canada) and Jack Sock (US) pair by 63,
16, 108 score.
Womens doubles Title: Indias Sania
Mirza and Switzerlands Martina Hingis
pair has won 2015 Miami Open Womens
doubles Title. In the final match they
defeated Russian pair of Ekaterina
Makarova and Elena Vesnina by 75, 61
score.
NZ Cricketer Retires
from International Cricket
New Zealand cricketer Kyle Mills on 1
April 2014 announced retirement from
international cricket. He made this
announcement after New Zealand lost to
Australia in ICC World Cup 2015 final.
280

Kyle Mills cricket career spanned 14 years.
In his entire cricket career he had played
19 Tests matches, 170 One Day
Internationals (ODIs) and 42 T20s. He had
made his international debut in a ODI
against Pakistan in 2001 and test debut in
2004 against England. In 170 ODI matches
he had taken 240 wickets, second highest
wicket taker among New Zealand bowlers
after Daniel Vettori. In 19 tests matches, he
had taken 44 wickets and 43 wickets in his
42 Twenty20 internationals.
Indian Open Super Series 2015
World Number one ace shuttler Saina
Nehwal on 29 March 2015 won India Open
Super Series Badminton Womens Singles
2015 Title. She defeated Thailands
Ratchanok Intanon in the final match
played at Siri Fort Indoor Complex in New
Delhi in straight sets 21-16, 21-14.
Mens Singles Title Indias Srikanth
Kidambi has won India Open Super Series
Badminton Mens Singles 2015 Title. In the
final match he defeated Denmarks Viktor
Axelsen in three games 18-21, 21-13 and 2112.
Mens Doubles Title Chinas Chai Biao and
Hong Wei pair has won India Open Super
Series Badminton Mens Doubles 2015
Title. In the final match Chinese pair
defeated Denmarks Conrad-Petersen
Mads and Pieler Kolding Mads pair by 2118, 21-14 score.
Womens Doubles Title Number one
ranked Japanese pair of Misaki Matsutomo
and Ayaka Takahashi has won India Open
Super Series Badminton Womens Doubles
2015 Title. In the final match, Japanese pair
has defeated Chinese pair Japanese pair by
21-19, 21-19 score.
Mixed Doubles Title Second-ranked
Chinese pair of Yixin Bao and Cheng Liu
has won India Open Super Series

Badminton Mixed Doubles 2015 Title. In
the final match, Chinese pair defeated
Number one ranked Danish pair of
Christinna Pedersen and Joachim Fischer
Nielsen by score 21-19 21-19.
Kidambi Kidabi clinches swis grand prix
gold 2015
Indian Shuttler Kidambi brought fruitful
movement for India as he clinched the badminton
prestigious $ 120000 Swiss Grand Prix Gold
championship title after defeating a strong Denmarks
Viktor Alexson in mens singles final.
In the final world No. 4 Srikanth showed nerves
of steel to prevail over his opponent, ranked sixth in
the world, 21-15 12-21 21-14 in the thrilling summit
clash of the event as the contest lasted 47 minutes.
Services wins
69th Santosh trophy
Services has clinched 69th Santosh Trophy
Nationals after deafiting hosts Punjab 5-4 via tiebreaker in a nail-biting clash at Guru Nanak Stadium.
Services dominated possession in the first half and
also created number of scoring opportunities but
failed to convert.
Services sealed the title for the fourth time
besides finishing runners up on five occasions.
Karnataka wins
Ranji Trophy 2015
Defending champions Karnataka has won their
eighth Ranji Trophy title as they defeated their
southern opponents Tamil Nadu by an innings and
217 runs on the last day of the Ranji Trophy cricket
tournament final at the Wankhede stadium.
The man of the match was Karnatakas Karun
Nair who had scored 338 runs. The captain of
Karnataka team was R Vinay Kumar and of Tamil
Nadu team was Abhinav Mukund.
Earlier Karnataka has won 7th Ranji Tile, which
are- 1973-74 - Vs Rajasthan, 1977-78 - Vs Uttar
Pradesh, 1982-83 - Vs Bombay, 1995-96 - Vs Tamil
Nadu, 1997-98 - Vs Uttar Pradesh, 1998-99 - Vs
Madhya Pradesh, 2013-14 - Vs Maharashtra .
281
Snagakara hits record four consecutive ODI

centuary
Sri Lanka cricket team wicketkeeper Kumar
Sangakkara has become the first player to hit four
successive one-day international centuries after
notching up a ton in his sides 148-run win against
Scotland in the world cup.
Sangakkara now has a total of 14,189 career ODI
runs and five World Cup centuries, only one behind
record holder Sachin Tendulkar.
Sangakara century against Scotland followed an
unbeaten 105 against Bangladesh, 117 not out against
England and 104 against Australia. Previously, six
other players had scored three ODI hundreds in a
row.
AB Deviler hits
Fastest 150 in ODI
South African batsman AB de Villiers hit the
fastest 150 in one-day internationals during a match
between South Africa & West Indies. De Villiers took
64 deliveries to reach 150, beating the previous best,
set by Australias Shane Watson, by 19 balls.
He finished 162 not out from 66 balls as South
Africa made 408-5, the second-highest total in World
Cups. Only last month, De Villiers hit the fastestever ODI hundred against the same team in
Johannesburg, from 31 balls. In that same innings,
South Africas captain also set the record for the
fastest fifty in ODIs, from 16 balls.
Ranchi Ray wins
Hero Hockey India League 2015
Indian Cricket team captain Mahaendra Singh
Dhoni owned Ranchi Rays have been crowned Hero
Hockey India League champions for 2015 following
a dramatic penalty shoot-out triumph over Jaypee
Punjab Warriors in a high quality tournament final
at New Delhis Major Dhyan Chand National
Stadium. Jaypee Punjab Warriors lead the final on
two occasions, with Lovells 2014 World Cup
winning team-mates Kieran Govers and Chris
Ciriello finding the net while Stanli Minz and Barry
Middleton twice pulled the Rays level as the match
finished with the scores locked at 2-2.
Lovell, who had made numerous breathtaking
saves in normal time, produced a goalkeeping masterclass in the shoot-out, keeping out efforts from Simon
Orchard, SV Sunil and Robert Hammond to give
Ranchi a 3-2 win.
Lovells performance deservedly earned him the
Hero Man of the Match Award, while team-mate and
Rays captain Ashley Jackson was named Hero Most
Valuable Player of the Tournament thanks to a series
of wonderful displays during this seasons HHIL.
Delhi Waveriders claimed a third place finish
in this years Hero Hockey India League, with
Rupinder Pal Singh and Yuvraj Walmiki both on
target in their teams 2-1 triumph over Uttar Pradesh
Wizards.
Chris Hayle hits first World Cup Double
Centuary
West Indies opener Chris Gayle hit the first
double century in World Cup history in their Pool B
victory over Zimbabwe at Canberra.He reached 200
off 138 balls, hitting Tendai Chatara for a boundary
in the 46th over.
His mark eclipsed the unbeaten 188 by South
Africas Gary Kirsten against the United Arab
Emirates in 1996. Gayle hit a total of 16 sixes in 147
balls before he was out for 215 off the last delivery
of his sides innings.
It was also only the fifth double century in all
one-day internationals and the first by a non-Indian,
with Rohit Sharma (two), Sachin Tendulkar and
Virender Sehwag the only other batsmen to achieve
the feat.
Anil Kumble
Inducted into ICC Hall of Fame
Internation Cricket Council has inducted former
Indian captain Anil Kumble into their hall of fame at
the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Kumble is just the
fourth Indian to be included in the elite group, joining
Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Bishan Bedi.
Australian legend Betty Wilson was also
inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame, along with
Kumble.
Kumble has played 132 Tests for India,
capturing 619 wickets and became the second man
in history to take 10 wickets in an innings when he
dismantled Pakistan in 1999 to finish with figures of
282

10-74.
Alongside Kumble, Wilson becomes the second
Australian woman in the Hall of Fame behind
champion batter Belinda Clark.
Wilson, considered one of the greatest female
cricketers of all-time, played 11 Tests between 1947
and 1958, scoring 862 runs at an average of 57.4 and
claimed 68 wickets at 11.8 runs apiece. In 1957
against England, Wilson became the first cricketer,
male or female, to take score a century and take 10
wickets in a Test. Kumble and Wilson become the
77th and 78th inductees into the Hall of Fame.
Geeta, Kavita win Crowns

National Games gold medallists O. Geeta
Devi and Kavita Devi recorded contrasting
wins to take the honours in their respective
categories in the National weightlifting
championship.
India storms into the final, meets Poland

India, expectedly, booked a spot in the final
of the Hero womens Hockey World
League Round 2 with a 5-0 win over
Thailand at the Major Dhyan Chand
National Stadium.
Jackie Chan song for

Olympics App
Jackie Chan has recorded a theme song for
the application of 2022 Winter Olympic
Games titled Wake up Winter. Songwriter
Wang Jiuping explained that the song was
a call to people around the world.
Selection criterion for
Multi-discipline events
In a move that may affect careers of several
athletes, the Union Sports Ministry has
formulated a selection criterion which
states that for participation in a multidiscipline event an individual sportsperson
must perform at par with the top-six
finishers in the previous edition of the
competition.
According to a statement issued, The
performance of sportspersons in the
individual events during the last 12 months
prior to commencement of the event should
not be less than the performance achieved
by the sixth position holder of the previous
edition of the respective tournament in
measurable sports.
This will be applicable for events such as
the Olympic Games, Winter Olympics,
Asian Games, Commonwealth Games,
Asian Indoor Games, Asian Beach Games,
Youth Olympics, Asian Youth Games,
Commonwealth
Youth
Games,
Paralympics and Para-Asian Games.
For team events, only those teams which
have achieved ranking up to eighth among
participating countries of the tournaments
concerned in the last one year should be
considered for participation in the
respective tournaments.
In a communication sent to the Indian
Olympic Association (IOA), Paralympic
Committee of India (PCI) and the National
Sports Federations (which are actually
responsible for the selection of athletes and
teams for international events), the
Ministry said that the same criteria would
be applicable in non-measurable sports as
well.
The Ministry has also made it clear that no
additional sportsperson and support staff
would be cleared even at no cost to
government.
However, Cycling Federation of India (CFI)
Secretary Onkar Singh pointed out the flaw
in the new guideline.
The Government should not limit the
participation in multi-sport events to the
elite athletes. What about the younger
athletes who are talented but do not have
exposure? For example, one has to go
283
through the qualification process to

participate in the Olympics. But who will
help an athlete to reach the qualification?
Meanwhile, the Ministry has requested the
IOA to formulate guidelines for inclusion
of athlete support personnel in the
contingent for multi-disciplinary events.
IOA and Sports Authority of India (SAI)
should ensure that only those support
personnel are considered for Indian
contingents who have worked with the
sportspersons in camps or have the
necessary credentials and experience and
are eligible as per the rules and guidelines
of the International Olympic Committee/
Olympic Council of Asia/Organising
Committees of the Games/respective
International Federations.
India draws with China
India kept its chances alive by holding
China 2-2 in the Indo-China Chess Summit
2015 for the Komatireddy Prateek Reddy
Trophy.
GM Sethuraman came up with another
impressive display to outwit GM Ding
Liren in 23 moves in Grunfeld Defence.
Sethuraman, with a score of five out of
seven, was the top-scorer for his team.
India later suffered a blow when captain
K. Sasikiran frittered away an
advantageous position to go down to Wei
Yi in Grunfeld Defence. GMs B Adhiban
and M.R. Lalith Babu drew against Wang
Chen and Zhou Jianchao respectively.
Quasar bags Indian Turf Invitation Cup
Quasar (Yash Narredu up) upset
stablemate Be Safe in the Indian Turf
Invitation Cup (Gr. I), the stellar attraction
of the races.
The winner is owned by Mr. Jaydev
M.Modi rep. J.M.Livestock Pvt Ltd, M/s.
Tanmay A.Agashe & Madhav G.Patankar.

Malesh Narredu trains the winner.
Yet again the race course here witnessed
unruly scenes when the punters in the first
enclosure protested soon after the hot
favourite Be Safe lost a certain race.
The punters did not allow the horses for
the last race to leave the paddock for more
than 45 minutes. Only after the police
intervened the crowd dispersed and the last
race was held after an hours delay.
Dalmiya set to
return as BCCI chief
Former president Sharad Pawar failed to
get a proposer from East zone, prompting
the Maratha strongman to pull out of the
race.
Jagmohan Dalmiya is set to return as
president of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI).
The 74-year-old West Bengal strongman
was the only nominee for the top job as the
deadline ended. The BCCIs Annual
General
Meeting
will
be held.
A former BCCI and ICC president, Mr.
Dalmiya had temporarily run the BCCIs
day-to-day affairs in 2013 when N.
Srinivasan stepped aside following the IPL
spot-fixing and betting scandal. He had
been requested by Mr. Srinivasan to do so.
Given his proximity to Mr. Srinivasan over
the last three years, Mr. Dalmiya is seen as
his candidate.
Interestingly, Sharad Pawars faction, who
is in the city with his supporters, also
projected Mr. Dalmiya as its choice. This
also reflected the groups failure to secure
two East Zone votes for a name to be
proposed and seconded for its own man.
This is the East Zones turn to nominate,
284
and Mr. Dalmiya controls two of the six

votes in the region: the Cricket Association
of Bengal and the National Cricket Club.
There will, however, be a contest between
the two factions for the other posts; these
do not need to be proposed and seconded
by associations from the East Zone.
Mr. Srinivasans group has nominated
Sanjay Patel as its choice for secretary,
Anirudh Chaudhry, treasurer, and
Amitabh Chaudhary, joint secretary.
Mr. Pawars faction has fielded Anurag
Thakur (secretary), Rajiv Shukla (treasurer)
and Chetan Desai (joint secretary).
For the posts of vice-president, one from
each zone, Mr. Srinivasans group has
named G. Gangaraju (South), T.C. Mathew
(West), C.K. Khanna (Central), Gautam Roy
(East) and M.L. Nehru (North).
Mr. Pawars faction has Ravi Savant (West),
Jyotiraditya Scindia (Central) and M.P.
Pandove (North) as its candidates.
Although Mr. Srinivasans group has the
edge, things could become tight. There are
31 votes, including the casting vote of the
chairman. However, there could,
effectively, be only 30 votes since the
Rajasthan Cricket Association has been
suspended.
Since Shivlal Yadav served as the Supreme
Court-appointed interim Board president,
Mr. Srinivasans group could move a proposal for the former Indian off-spinner to
chair the meeting. This could be opposed
by Mr. Pawars faction.
The chairman must pick representatives for
the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association
and the Baroda Cricket Association, which
have warring factions.
Hassan somersaults
into Wall Street Journal
Afghanistans cricket sensation Hamid
Hassan found his way into the pages of the

popular US daily The Wall Street Journal
after his somersault antics to celebrate
Kumar Sangakkaras wicket in the match
against Sri Lanka.
Wearing a bandana and with war paint on
both cheeks, Hassan, in his Rambo-like
appearance, is not only a hit with fans and
photographers but also with his World Cup
opponents, who are wary of his wickettaking abilities.
FIS wins Legends Cup
FIS Champions pipped two-time winner
Genpact via penalty shoot-out to lift the
title in the Legends Cup six-a-side football
tournament .
After the two teams were tied 1-1 in the
regulation time, FIS beat Genpact 4-3 in the
shoot-out.
India to host world bridge
For the first time, India will play host to
the biggest event of bridge event the
42nd world team championships (WBTC)
at ITC Grand Chola here from September
26 to October 10.
HCL is the title sponsor for the tournament.
Sixty-six teams, 660 players from 40
countries will vie for the prestigious
Bermuda Bowl Trophy.
Giannarigo Rona, President, World Bridge
Federation, who is in the city to oversee the
preparations for the WBTC 2015, said he
was very impressed with the top class
infrastructure available in Chennai to host
such a big event.
Sports awards scheme revamped
In order to do away with controversies
surrounding the selection process for the
annual National sports awards in future,
the Union Sports Ministry has revamped
285
the scheme.
According to the new provisions, the
selection committee for the Arjuna Award
will be headed by a retired Supreme Court
or High Court judge, and not more than
one sportsperson/coach from a particular
discipline shall be a member of the panel
to avoid any bias towards any particular
discipline.
A sportsperson of eminence/sports
administrator/sports expert belonging to
para sports will now be a member of the
Arjuna Award selection panel.
Besides, the new provisions want the
nomination agencies to send nominations
of deserving sportspersons and coaches,
irrespective of whether they have applied
to these agencies for this purpose.
The ministry, which has accepted most of
the suggestions given by last years Arjuna
Award selection committee headed by
Kapil Dev, has said that more marks will
be given for medals won in individual
events.
From now, the proceedings of the selection
committees will be video-graphed, a
detailed internal Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs) will be followed to deal
with nominations received from National
Sports Federations and views of experts of
various disciplines will be obtained for
shortlisted nominations in team games.
Kerala wins overall title

Kerala won the overall championship in the
67th National track cycling championship
which concluded at the LNCPE Velodrome
here .
Kerala came first with 143 points, while
Maharashtra finished second with 78.
Amrit Singh of RSPB was chosen the best
cyclist among men, while Deborah of
Andaman and Nicobar was best cyclist
among women.
ATP & WTA Rio Open: Gilles Simon takes
title
Fabio Fognini stuns Rafael Nadal in
semifinals. Gilles Simon won the Marseille
Open title for the second time on Sunday
defeating fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils
in three sets in the final.
Sea Hawks set
world open-sea swim record
A six-man relay team, led by Wing
Commander Paramvir Singh, swam from
Goa to Mumbai in 156 hours, breaking an
Israeli teams record.
The Sea Hawks, the Indian open water
swim team, set off from Dona Paula in Goa
and were scheduled to reach the Gateway
of India, covering 490 km along the Konkan
coastline in 156 hours.
But strong winds and high tide warnings
made the team wind up their attempt at a
distance of 433.11 km. The Israeli team had
done 380 km in 123.2 hrs.
The Swimming Federation of India had
deputed an independent observer to ratify
the record.
The Sea Hawks team included the Indian
Air Force personnel Sergeant Gullupilli
Narhari, Sergeant Ankan Kumar Patel and
Leading Aircraftman Vicky Tokas, and
Assistant Sub-inspector Ganesh Palande of
the Mumbai Police.
The attempt was in support of the Beti
Bachao, Beti Padhao national mission, and
the money raised from the swim would be
donated to Project Nanhi Kali started by
Anand Mahindra, which supports the
cause of education of the underprivileged
girl child in India.
286

Mandatory to share WC live feed: Prasar
Bharti
Reminding that cricket is almost a religion
in the Indian sub-continent, Prasar Bharti
urged the Supreme Court to order
absolute stay on a Delhi High Court
order barring the public broadcaster from
sharing its Doordarshan feed of the
ongoing ICC World Cup 2015 matches with
private cable operators.
In a volatile hearing before a Bench, led by
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Attorney-General
Mukul Rohatgi said it was mandatory
under the law for Prasar Bharti to give free
live signals to cable operators when events
of national interest took place. Any
tinkering with this statutory obligation, is
contrary to law, he said.
The Delhi High Courts verdict favouring
Star India Ltd., which said it had a six-year
broadcasting contract worth Rs. 3,850 crore
with the BCCI to beam the World Cup
matches in the subcontinent, had come
after a seven-year court battle with the
Prasar Bharti.
The court extended the period of the
interim stay till February 19. In the
meantime, it asked the AG to respond by
an affidavit to a proposal put forward by
Star India to create a separate channel so
that the visuals of Indias World Cup
matches could be aired directly to
subscribers without passing through
private cable operators.
Daredevils pick up
Yuvraj for Rs.16 crore
Yuvraj Singh continues to be the leading
draw at IPL auctions. After commanding a
hefty Rs.14 crore from Royal Challengers
Bangalore last year, the all-rounder again
emerged numero uno at the player auction
held at the ITC Gardenia Hotel.
Delhi Daredevils, with deep pockets thanks

to an initial purse of Rs. 39,75,00,000, aggressively pursued the southpaw and
edged his former team to secure him at a
whopping Rs.16 crore, which turned out to
be the days highest bid.
RCB, which released Yuvraj in a bid to expand its purse, strangely bid for him up to
Rs.15.50 crore before backing off. Once
Daredevils drew him into its fold, Yuvraj
tweeted:
Namaste
Delhi!
@DelhiDaredevils enjoyed playing for Rcb
but now look forward to play under a very
special man called gaza! @Gary_Kirsten.
While Yuvraj was happy to link-up with
his former India coach, Daredevils continued to be a big-spender, snapping up Sri
Lankan captain Angelo Mathews at Rs.7.50
crore.
Lahiri is Golfer of the Year
Anirban Lahiri walked away with the
Golfer of the Year award in the second edition of the India Golf Awards held.
Lahiri, the winner of the Malaysian Open,
was an obvious choice of the jury that
picked Delhis Vani Kapoor as the Professional (Female) Golfer of the Year.
his years jury included five-time British
Open champion Peter Thomson, Ashok
Malik, Gaurav Ghei and Champika Sayal.
S. Chikkarangappa was named the Rising
Golfer of the Year while Vaishavi Sinha
won the award in the female category of
the same award. Vijay Divecha, Lahiris
coach for 13 years, was chosen as the Best
Teaching Pro.
The occasion also saw two-time Indian
Open champion Ali Sher, along with Ashok
Malik, being honoured with the Veteran
Award.
Indian Aces beat UAE Royals to top IPTL
standings
Indian Aces notched up its third win on the
287
trot with a 28-20 victory over the UAE

Royals in the battle of two unbeaten sides
in an India Premier Tennis League match.
After Sundays win, Indian Aces topped the
table after the Manila leg to emerge early
front-runner in the high-profile
tournament.
The Indian side, however, began with a loss
with Ana Ivanovic going down fighting 46 to Kristina Mladenovic in the first
womens singles.
The battle of the in-form womens singles
players was a thrilling contest with
Ivanovic almost making a sensational
comeback from 1-5 down, before
eventually losing the match.
Mixed doubles pair Sania Mirza and Rohan
Bopanna registered a 6-3 second-set win
over Mladenovic and Nenad Zimonjic, and
Indian Aces took the advantage with
Bopanna partnering the crowd-favourite
Gael Monfils to a 6-4 victory over Zimonjic
and Marin Cilic in mens doubles.
An injury pulled Cilic out from early in the
set against Monfils, but Malek Jaziri was a
more than capable substitute.
Quick win for Deepan in National Premier

Chess
Vidit Gujrathi, the highest-rated player,
was forced to a draw for the second
successive day, this time by his Petroleum
Board teammate Abhijit Kunte, in the
second round of the South Indian BankCMS College 52nd National Premier Chess
championship at the CMS College.
Meanwhile, Deepan Chakravarthy, who
was the quickest of the day with a 27-move
verdict over P.D.S. Girinath, Deep
Sengupta and M.R. Lalith Babu posted
wins. Five players, with 1.5 points each, are
in the lead.
Varun Kakran set a new National record
Uttar Pradeshs Varun Kakran cleared a

height of 1.86 metres to set a new National
record in the under-14 boys high jump in
the Jio junior National athletics
championship at IGMC stadium here on
Saturday.
Varun eclipsed Maharashtras Anil Kumar
Sahoos 1.85 metre effort achieved in 2011.
Kerala and Haryana athletes dominated the
penultimate day with Kerala runners
hogging the limelight in the relays.
The results: Boys:U-14: High Jump:1.
Varun Kakran (UP) 1.86m NR (ONR &
NMR 1.85), 2. Anil (Har) 1.70; 3. Ravindra
Reddy 1.56.
Chikkarangappa triumphs at CG Open Golf
2014
S. Chikkarangappa defended his title in
style at the CG Open Golf 2014, producing
a final round of four-under-66 at the
Bombay Presidency Golf Club course.
The Bengaluru golfer totalled 17-under-263
in the PGTI Super Series event and also
topped the Rolex Rankings.
Om Prakash Chouhan bettered the course
record with 10-under-60 in the fourth
round, and was rewarded with the second
spot carding 16-under-264.
Overnight leader C. Muniyappa of
Bengaluru returned a card of 15-under-265
for third place.
Chikkarangappa (67-66-64-66) started with
pars on the first three holes, birdied the
fourth, fifth and seventh. Muniyappa
bogeyed the 11th, as the former struck form
to manage birdies on 16th and 18th for the
title.
East Zone reclaims Deodhar Trophy after a
long gap
East Zone proved to be a hard nut to crack
and won the Deodhar Trophy after 11
288
seasons. The game swung back and forth

in a tantalising manner, but East struck
crucial blows in the closing stages of the
match to beat West by 24 runs in the final.
Easts team work stood out in stark contrast
to some poor bowling by Shardul Thakur
and Yusuf Pathan, and later some poor
batting chasing a tall target of 270.
Wests chase suffered as Ashoke Dinda,
getting one last chance to impress the
selectors before the World Cup probables
selection, induced errors from Smit Patel,
Sheldon Jackson and Ambati Rayudu. His
effort earned him the man-of-the-match
award.
As the final drifted towards East,
Maharashtras Kedar Jadhav and his Pune
teammate Ankit Bawne pulled their team
out of the woods with a solid 74-run stand
for the fourth wicket.
After Bawnes dismissal, Jadhav and local
lad Suryakumar Yadav took charge. Jadhav
also survived a strong appeal for leg-before
off left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and
was lucky to be dropped by Kumar
Deobrat at long-on off off-spinner
Saurasish Lahiri.
But once Odisha all-rounder Biplab
Samantaray bowled Jadhav and Dinda
dismissed Yadav, Easts anxiety ended and
it went on to win the match.
Earlier, after electing to bat, East was
indebted to skipper Manoj Tiwary his
75 led the fight-back after early loss of
wickets and Samantarays quick-fire
half-century.
Indians subdue the Dutch in Champions

Trophy
After two morale-sapping defeats, India
finally regained a lot of confidence by
notching up a 3-2 upset win over World
Cup silver medallist and second-ranked
Netherlands in its final Pool B match of the

Champions Trophy hockey tournament at
the Kalinga Stadium.
The home team, which opened its account
with three points earned from this
unexpected victory, finished third in its
pool and will meet Pool As second-placed
side Belgium in the quarterfinals.
The Netherlands frontline, especially the
trio of Jeroen Hertzberger, Sander Baart
and Rogier Hofman, showed tremendous
understanding and agility to invade the
Indian circle at lightning speed and came
close to taking the lead on several
occasions.
But India remained unaffected mainly due
to some fabulous saves by its brave
goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh. V.R. Raghunath
and Rupinderpal Singh, who were tested
on numerous instances, withstood the
nervous moments.
Against the run of play, India grabbed the
lead early in the third quarter. Bubbling
with energy, young Gurjinder Singh
launched a long-range slap shot and S.V.
Sunil deflected it in to trigger celebrations
in the stands. The Dutch lost a bit of
advantage as its referral challenging the
goal did not yield the desired result.
Pakistan wins a thriller, makes final in

Champions Trophy
The blockbuster involving India and
Pakistan had disappointment in store for
the passionate home fans as the host lost 43 an evenly-contested, high voltage
semifinal clash of the Champions Trophy
hockey tournament at the Kalinga Stadium.
Incidentally, India had also lost to the same
opponent in the last four of the 2012 edition
in Melbourne. The defeat also meant that
the third place finish in 1982 remains
Indias best ever performance in the
289
Champions Trophy.
World No. 11 Pakistan, which reached the
final after 16 years on the strength of
Muhammad Arslan Qadirs brace, will take
on Olympic champion and nine-time
winner Germany. The world No. 3 edged
past five-time defending champion
Australia 3-2.
It was also a big achievement for Germany,
which had struggled throughout the year
and came into this event with a team which
had several players from the 2013 Junior
World Cup-winning squad, as it made the
final after 2009.
As expected, Pakistan used its sharpened
wings to cut through the Indian defence
frequently and kept hitting into the circle
from the right.
IPTL & traditional tennis can co-exist says
Carlos Moya
The innovative rules and format of the
International Premier Tennis League (IPTL)
may have struck a chord with the Asian
fans, generally starved of top-level action,
but former World No.1 Carlos Moya
believes the traditional sport will stick to
its conventional rules, though the inaugural
tournament will co-exist and thrive
alongside the existing order.
Mahalakshmi in sole lead in National
under-17 girls chess
of V. Pranavananda.
Indians just behind Brazilians in goalscorers list
Indian players have scored 23 goals, only
three less than Brazilian imports from all
teams, in the Indian Super League football
tournament that has entered the knockout
phase now.
Brazilian players, led by eight strikes from
Chennaiyin FCs sharp shooter Elano
Blumer, have notched up 26 goals overall.
Indian players led by FC Goas Romeo
Fernandes and Chennaiyin FCs Jeje
Lalpekhlua who have found the target
thrice each have tallied 23 in all.
Trishul Chinnappa wins in Amateur Golf
Championship
Trishul Chinnappa saw off Syed Saqib
Ahmed in a closely-contested final to win
the Tata Steel 114th Amateur Golf
Championship of India at the KGA course.
Chinnappa laid the foundation for his
victory in the 36-hole final with a splendid
effort in the first half, when he went five
up.
Notwithstanding a stutter on the second 18,
where his advantage had shrunk to one at
the turn, Chinnappa held firm to triumph
2 and 1.
Germany wins Champions Trophy
Top seed M. Mahalakshmi defeated second

seed G.K. Monisha to move into the sole
lead at the end of the seventh round of the
National
under-17
girls
chess
championship at Patna on Saturday.
With four rounds remaining, she has six
points, half-a-point ahead of Tejaswini
Sagar and V. Varshini. In the boys event,
fifth seed Aradhya Garg maintained his
sole lead with 6.5 points, one point in front
Enjoying the strong backing of a partisan

crowd of 7,000 in a city designed by
German architect Otto Konigsberger,
Olympic champion Germany made itself
at home to see Pakistan off 2-0 in the final
and lift the Champions Trophy at the
Kalinga Stadium.
The World No.3 could not have asked for
more as it ended the year by pocketing its
10th Champions Trophy crown. It had last
290
won the tournament in 2007. A tired and

lacklustre India was beaten 2-1 by World
champion Australia in the battle for third
place.
This was the fifth Champions Trophy final
involving Germany and Pakistan, and the
previous time they had met in the summit
clash was way back in 1994, when Pakistan
had emerged champion through penalty
shoot-outs in front of home supporters in
Lahore.
In changed times, with both teams seeking
to groom the youngsters in their squads in
the run-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics, the
duel assumed importance for different
reasons.
Thanks to the plans of master tactician
Markus Weise, Germany stifled the Asian
Games silver medallist with some brilliant
possession and strong marking.
Germany, which shrugged off a below-par
start to beat fine teams like England and
Australia in the knockout stage, checked
Pakistans free-flowing style.
Boxing India not

Recognized by IOA
N. Ramachandran, President of the Indian
Olympic Association, has categorically
stated that the Indian Amateur Boxing
Federation (IABF) will be the official body
and not Boxing India (BI). He added that
boxing affairs will now be handled by
IOAs ad-hoc committee.
This matter was discussed at length at the
Executive
Committee.
The
EC
unanimously agreed that the body that will
be recognised by the IOA will be IABF,
said Mr. Ramachandran at a press
conference, after attending the IOAs
executive committee and the annual
general body meeting.
Explaining the rationale behind the
decision, Mr. Ramachandran said IOA

refused to give official sanction to BI
because BI elections were held without
consulting IOA.
When the dispute first arose between
IABF and Boxing India, the IOA constituted
an ad-hoc committee. It is AIBA which
recognised Boxing India and the latters
elections. Neither the Government of India
nor the IOA sent an observer for the
elections.
In fact, when the IOA took up the matter
with the President of the International
boxing body (AIBA) and said that, in the
interest of the athletes, the elections should
be held under the aegis of IOA and with
AIBAs observer present, the latter did not
accept these suggestions and BI held its
elections under the supervision of AIBA,
he said, adding that the IOA had received
many complaints of irregularities during
the elections.
He said the top three athletes at the
Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and
Beach Asian Games, will receive a cash
award of Rs. 3 lakh, Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. one
lakh respectively. He regretted that the
government funding for National Sports
Federations has been reduced to a larger
extent.
79 Indians retained for IPL 2015
The eight IPL teams have retained 123
cricketers in all 79 Indians and 44
overseas players for the 2015 season.
According to a BCCI press release, five
Indian cricketers were traded. The window
to extend player contracts on existing terms
closed.
The released players will have the option
to put their names up for the player auction
for the 2015 season.
The BCCI-IPL has said that teams have a
291
total salary purse of Rs.63 crore for the 2015

season, a 5% increase over the 2014 season
purse, and that the salaries of the players
retained will be deducted from this
amount.
AIBA bans boxer L. Sarita Devi
Indian woman boxer L. Sarita Devi was
handed a one-year ban by the International
Boxing Association (AIBA) for refusing to
accept her bronze medal at the Asian
Games but the punishment is unlikely to
hurt her career too badly as she would be
available to compete in the 2016 Olympic
qualifiers.
Sarita, who had refused to accept the medal
to protest her controversial semifinal bout
loss, has been banned retrospectively from
October 1, 2014 to October 1, 2015 and fined
1000 swiss francs.
Although her repeated apologies failed in
getting her AIBAs pardon, even this ban
is quite a relief for the lightweight (60kg)
boxer, who is currently nursing a broken
right wrist.
Bindra wins bronze in National Shooting
championship
Indias sole individual Olympic gold
medallist Abhinav Bindra bagged the 50metre rifle prone bronze medal, but the
gold went to Hariom Singh in the 58th
National Shooting Championships in Pune.
Competing in the mens 50-metre rifle
prone event after a gap of almost a decade,
Bindra shot 183.8 to finish third on the
podium at the Balewadi Shooting Range.
Fellow Olympic medallist Gagan Narang
finished fourth in the eight-man final, after
having finished third in qualifying,
marginally ahead of Bindra, who qualified
in fourth position.
No FIH event till Pakistan players are

punished, decided Hockey India
Taking strong exception to FIHs weak
censure to Pakistani players for their
obscene behaviour after beating India in the
Champions Trophy semifinal, Hockey
India decided that it would not host any
event sanctioned by the world body until
strong punishment is handed out to the
offenders.
The Pakistani players made obscene
gestures towards Indian fans and media
after their win last night but no action was
taken against them by the International
Hockey Federation (FIH) after their coach
Shahnaz Sheikh offered an apology.
It was a shameless and condemnable
incident but the FIH took a very weak and
feeble decision. It is not acceptable to us.
We have made it clear to FIH that such sort
of behaviour from sportspersons is not
acceptable to Indians, HI president
Narinder Batra told PTIfrom New Delhi.
Tendulkar named for ICC World Cup 2015
ambassador
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar was named
the ICC World Cup ambassador for the
second successive edition. The
International Cricket Council today
announced Sachin Tendulkar as the World
Cup 2015 Ambassador.
It will be the second successive time that
the India maestro will be the Ambassador
of ICCs pinnacle tournament, after he
fulfilled the role in the previous event in
2011, the ICC said in a statement.
In his role as ambassador, Tendulkar will
promote and support a variety of ICC
initiatives to enhance the profile of the
tournament, which is the third biggest
sporting event in the world and will take
292

place in Australia and New Zealand from
February 14 to March 29.
Tendulkar retired from international
cricket last year after representing India in
200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one Twenty20
International. In a career spanning 24 years,
the 41-year-old scored a total of 34,357
international runs and 100 centuries.
Gouramangi Singh is Bharat FCs new catch
for 2015
Defender Gouramangi Singh has been
roped in by new I-league team, Bharat FC
to firm up its squad for the 2015 season
which will kick off next month.
Bharat FC, which will compete in its
inaugural I-League season starting on
January 17, snapped up Gouramangi from
Chennaiyin FC on a season-long contract.
I and Stanly have worked at the national
team and I know how good he is. I have
also been speaking regularly to Stuart and
his vision for the team is really exciting.
I am excited about my role here, said
Gouramangi, who joined the Kalyani
group-owned team during its pre-season
training camp at the BharatiVidyapeeth
football ground on Tuesday.
I want to transfer my experience of having
played in the I-League, help build the team
well and win lots of football matches, he
added. The 28-year-old, who was a India
regular before Wim Koevermans became
India coach, comes to Bharat FC on the back
of an impressive showing in the Indian
Super League.
The centre-back made 11 appearances for
Chennaiyin FC, driving them to the
semifinals of the competition. One of the
most accomplished players in India,
Gouramangi who is a graduate of the Tata
Football Academy, began his professional
football career with Dempo SC in the 2004-
2005 season making 40 appearances and

scoring one goal.
Srikanth is No. 4 in World Badminton
ranking
Young Kidambi Srikanth continued his
meteoric rise in world badminton as he
ended the season by becoming only the
third Indian male shuttler to break into the
top-five, reaching a career-high fourth after
hovering in the 40s in the beginning of the
year.
The 21-year-old Indian, who clinched the
China Super Series Premier before reaching
the semifinals of back-to-back tournaments
in Hong Kong and Dubai, jumped two
places to join the elite club which comprises
Prakash Padukone and national chief coach
Pullela Gopichand, who were World No. 1
and 4 respectively in the past.
When I started the year, I was in the 40s.
Probably somewhere around 45. So I didnt
expect that I will reach world number four.
But I am really happy with my performance
this season, it has been a great year,
Srikanth toldPTI.
Use of bouncer is the right of a fast bowler
says Rackemann
He was struck on top of the nose and he
went crashing down holding his face.
Actually, his face was split right down the
middle, remembered the burly former
Australian fast bowler, Carl Rackemann.
He was recalling a Sheffield Shield contest
between Queensland and West Australia
at the lively Gabba in the early 90s. Mike
Veletta, the batsman who was hit by the
Rackemann lifter, was wearing a helmet
without a grill.
Rackemann, now 54, said, Those were
days when many batsmen wore helmets
that did not have the grill. They felt the grill
293
affected their overall vision. Mike (Veletta)

went to hook a bouncer and he missed.
The former Queensland paceman said, I
was really concerned for him. It was really
bad. I feared the worst. He was taken in an
ambulance. Thankfully, they, at the
hospital, were able to stitch his face back.
It was a scary moment.
A feared and respected paceman in his time
he hustled batsmen with disconcerting
lift Rackemanns international career
was blighted by injuries. He picked up 39
wickets in 12 Tests at 29.15. In the ODIs,
Rackemann scalped 82 batsmen in 52
matches at an economy rate of 3.94.
Elano Blumer gets the Golden Boot in

Indian Super League
Chennaiyin FCs Elano Blumer and FC
Goas goalkeeper Jan Seda (FC Goa) topped
the list for Golden Boot and Golden Glove
awards respectively as the inaugural
Indian Super League concluded.
Elano scored eight goals in 11 matches,
apart from one assist, according to official
website www.indiansuperleague.com.
Be Safe wins Indian 2000 Guineas (Gr. I)
Mr. M.A.M.Ramaswamys Be Safe (Suraj
Narredu up) won the ABV Nucleus Indian
2000 Guineas (Gr. I), the stellar attraction
of the races held. The winner is trained by
M.Narredu.
294
Awards & Prizes
Japan Governments Highest Civilian Award

to Professor C.N.R. Rao
Highest Civilian Award of Japan, that is
conferred on academicians, politicians and military
officers- the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and
Silver Star, will be conferred on Professor C.N.R.
Rao for his contribution to promoting academic
interchange and mutual understanding in science and
technology between Japan and India. He had been
bestowed with about 70 honorary doctorates and had
received the highest civilian award of India, Bharat
Ratna.
Professor C.N.R. Rao is a National Research
Professor, Linus Pauling Research Professor and
Honorary President of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre
for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru , an
autonomous institution supported by the Ministry of
Science & technology, Government of India.
Professor Rao had made substantial contributions to
the development of Science in India and the Third
World.
Ramkumar Ramanathan and Vijay Sundar
Prashanth wins T. K. Ramanathan award
Ramkumar Ramanathan and Vijay Sundar
Prashanth won the prestigious T.K. Ramanathan
award at the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association annual

day function held at SDAT-Nungambakkam Stadium
here on Friday. Both received Rs. 15,000 each.
While Ramkumar with good performances
on the ATP and ITF circuits reached a world
ranking of 226, Vijays good display in the 2015
Aircel Chennai Open he qualified for the main
draw and two back-to-back ITF titles in Tiruchi
and Chennai, improved his rankings to 397.
Neel Mukherjee wins 10,000 Encore award
for the year 2014
Neel Mukherjees story of a young man who is
drawn into into extreme political activism in 1960s
Calcutta, The Lives of Others, has won him the
10,000 Encore award for the years best second
novel.
Already shortlisted for the Man Booker prize,
where it missed out to Richard Flanagans The
Narrow Road to the Deep North, and the Costa,
Mukherjees novel immensely impressed judges
with its ambition and depth, said chair of the panel
Alex Clark. It beat second novels by authors
including Will Wiles, Deborah Kay Davies and
Amanda Coe to win the Encore, an award which was
founded by Lucy Astor 25 years ago, and which has
295
been won in the past by major names including Ali

Smith, Anne Enright and Colm Tibn.
Mukherjee, who lives in London, called the
Encore a burst of light in what is usually considered
to be dark, damp, bleak territory the dreaded second
novel, and said he was thrilled by my good fortune
and, looking at the list of past winners, both humbled
and deeply honoured to win.
Vice President Confers Pt. Haridutt Sharma
Award to Smt. Anurradha Prasad
The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid
Ansari conferred the Pt. Haridutt Sharma Award
in the field of Journalism, Writing and Social Services
to Smt. Anurradha Prasad, Editor-in-Chief, News24 Channel. Addressing on the occasion, the Vice
President opined that the Media persons should
always do news reporting in an impartial and
responsible manner with objectivity. He
congratulated Smt. Anurradha Prasad for her
outstanding contribution in the field of Media and
said that she has maintained the dignity of Journalistic
profession in her professional career.
Pt. Haridutt Sharma was a renowned journalist
and eminent writer. In his memory, this Annual award
is given in the field of Journalism, Writing and Social
Services for the outstanding contribution in their
respective field. The Award consists of Cash prize
of Rs. 51000/-, Citation, Trophy, Shawl and Souvenir.
Heniz Award 2015
An Indian-origin scientist at MIT Sangeeta
Bharti, who has developed artificial human
microlivers for drug testing, has won a prestigious
$2,50,000 Heinz award for her work in tissue
engineering and disease detection.
The award includes an unrestricted prize of $
2,50,000. The Heinz Awards annually recognise
individuals for their extraordinary contributions to
arts and humanities; environment; human condition;
public policy; and technology, the economy, and
employment.
She is also using microlivers in the lab to model
malaria infection and test drugs that can eradicate
malaria parasites completely. She hopes to eventually
develop implantable liver tissue as a complement or
substitute for whole-organ transplant.
NCDC Cooperative excellence award 2014

Ministry of Agriculture has conferred National
Cooperative Development Corporation Award for
Cooperative Excellence 2014 to the best performing
primary cooperatives for their excellent performance
to Utlou Weavers Cooperative Society Limited
(UWCSL).
National Cooperative Development Corporation
(NCDC) is a statutory Corporation set up under an
act of Parliament in March 1963 for developing rural
economic activities through cooperatives. The NCDC
Award for Cooperative Excellence is an initiative to
encourage and give due recognition to those
cooperatives who despite all odds, are able to sustain
and work for development and prosperity of agrarian
society.
The Award is for inculcating a sense of
achievement and spirit of cooperation and thus set
an example for others to follow.
Shivani Agarwal and Maharaja Pandit
selected for prestigious Radcliffe fellowship
Two Indians from Indian Institute of Science,
and University of Delhi have been named for Harvard
Universitys prestigious Radcliffe fellowship.
Shivani Agarwal from Indian Institute of
Science and Maharaja Pandit from University of
Delhi are among 50 scholars, scientists, and artists
who will begin their one-year fellowships along with
48 at the Radcliffe Institute in September 2015, a
media release said.
Considered as one of the most prestigious
honors for faculty, only three per cent of applicants
were accepted this year.
Shivani, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Fellow has been selected for learning to make choices
in the era of big data. Mr Pandit has been selected
for his project life in Himalaya.
Dr. Siva Mandjiny wins UNCs 2015 Award
for Teaching Excellence
Chemistry professor Sivanadane (Siva)
Mandjiny has been named UNC Pembrokes
recipient of the UNC Board of Governors 2015
Award for Excellence in Teaching.
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Annually, the Board of Governors names one
professor at each of the 17 UNC campuses to receive
the award. The award winners will collect a
commemorative bronze medallion and a $12,500 cash
prize.
The award, which serves to underscore the
importance of teaching, will be presented by a
member of the Board of Governors during spring
graduation ceremonies on May 9. UNCPs recipient
serves as University Marshal and presides over
ceremonial events during the academic year.
Florence Nightingale Award given to 35
nurses
The President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee
conferred the Florence Nightingale Awards to 35
nurses from across the country on the occasion of
International Nurses Day.
The Florence Nightingale awards are given to
the outstanding nursing personnel employed in
Central, State/UTs. Nurses working in Government,
Voluntary Organizations, Mission institutions and the
private institutions can apply with the due
recommendation of concerned State Government.
The Florence Nightingale Awards carries Rs.50, 000/
- cash, a certificate, a citation certificate and a Medal.
Charlie Hebdo awarded PEN Freedom of
Expression and courage award
The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo
has received a controversial freedom of speech award
at the PEN Literary Gala in New York.
The decision to award the magazine the
Freedom of Expression Courage Award to Charlie
Hebdo caused six high-profile authors to withdraw,
including The English Patient writer Michael
Ondaatje. They said PEN - known for defending
imprisoned writers - was stepping beyond its
traditional role.
The boycott has been criticised by the author
Salman Rushdie, a former president of PEN who was
in hiding for years over Islamist threats in response
to his novel The Satanic Verses.
Syrian journalist Mazen Darwish wins
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press
Freedom Prize 2015

The winner of the 2015 UNESCO/Guillermo
Cano World Press Freedom Prize is Syrian journalist
and human rights activist, Mazen Darwish, currently
imprisoned. The Prize has bedd awarded during the
celebration of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May,
which has been be hosted this year by Latvia (.
An independent international jury of media
professionals recommended Mazen Darwish in
recognition of the work he has carried out in Syria
for more than ten years at great personal sacrifice,
enduring a travel ban, harassment, as well as repeated
detention and torture. Led by Ko-ko U (Myanmar),
chairman of the Yangon Media Group and publisher
of the Yangon Times, the International Jury stressed
the need to remember Mr Darwish, currently in
prison, along with so many other human rights
defenders and journalists.
Darwish, a lawyer and press freedom advocate,
is the president of the Syrian Centre for Media and
Freedom of Expression (CMFE), founded in 2004,
and one of the founders of the Voice newspaper and
syriaview.net, an independent news site banned by
the Syrian authorities. In 2011, Darwish established
Media Club, the first Syrian magazine about media
affairs. He has been detained since February 2012,
when he was arrested with colleagues Hani Al-Zitani
and Hussein Ghareer.
Numerous human rights and press organizations
around the world have issued calls for the release of
Darwish and his fellow journalists.
The $25,000 Prize is named in honour of
Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist who
was assassinated in front of the offices of his
newspaper, El Espectador, in Bogot, on 17
December 1986. It is funded by the Cano Foundation
(Colombia) and the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation
(Finland).
Redlnk lifetime Achievement award to Dr
Prannoy
NDTV executive co-chairman Dr Prannoy Roy
was conferred the Redlnk Award for lifetime
Achievement at a function. The award, comprising a
trophy and a citation, has been instituted by the
Mumbai Press Club. The awards were presented by
the Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
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Awards were also presented in the categories

crime, politics, courts, health, environment and
science. A panel discussion on limits of dissent was
held in which Prabhu, veteran journalist Shekhar
Gupta, Jain and Krishna Prasad, editor-in-chief,
Outlook, took part. The debate was moderated by
Sachin Kalbag, editor of Mid-Day.
Dr. Promod Patil wins Whitley Awards 2015
The Princess Royal will today present a Whitley
Award, a prestigious international nature
conservation prize worth 35,000 in project funding,
to Pramod Patil at a ceremony at the Royal
Geographical Society, London, in honour of his work
to protect the iconic great Indian bustard in the Thar
Desert.
Pramod is one of seven individuals to have been
awarded a share of prize funding worth 245,000 by
the Whitley Fund for Nature, winning the Whitley
Award donated by The William Brake Charitable
Trust in memory of William Brake.
The great Indian bustard once flourished across
the Indian sub-continent, but poaching, loss of
grassland habitat and lack of community involvement
has resulted in local opposition to conservation
activities and pushed the species from 90% of its
original range. The estimated surviving population
consists of fewer than 250 individuals competing for
space in the most densely human-populated desert
in the world.
Siddhartha Gigoo wins Commonwealth
short story prize
Siddhartha Gigoo has won the best story from
Asia award at the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story
Prize Shortlist for his story titled The Umbrella
Man . The award picked four writers from 40,000
entries that were received from 53 countries of the
Commonwealth.
Romesh Gunesekera, the Chair for 2015, said:
We wanted stories that will engage us and make us
rethink our notions of form, language and what
mattered. The winning stories did all of that and
more.
The other winners in various categories are:
Lesley Nneka Arimah from Nigeria for Light ;
Jonathan Tel from the United Kingdom for The
Human Phonograph ; Kevin Jared Hosein from

Trinidad and Tobago for The King of Settlement 4
), Mary Rokonadravu from Fiji for Famished Eels
.
The regional winners will compete for the
overall winners prize, which will be announced in
London on September 8. The Commonwealth Short
Story Prize Shortlist is awarded for the best piece of
unpublished short fiction (2,000-5,000 words).
Regional winners receive 2,500, while the overall
winner receives 5,000.
Paris Based Poet Wins
Kumar Asan World Prize
Paris- based Syrian-Lebanese Arab poet
Adonis has been chosen for this years
Kumaran Asan World Prize for poetry, instituted by the Kumaran Asan Memorial
Association to honour poets of international stature and introduce them to Indian
readers. The award consists of a cash prize
of Rs 3 lakh, memento and a citation.
Some of his important works include If
Only the Sea Could Sleep, Pages of Day and
Night, Songs of Mihyar the Damascene,
Not A Star, A Voice, A King is Miyhar, The
Adoring Rock, and Take me to God.
Susanta Lahiri Wins
Hevesy Medal Award 2015
Professor Susanta Lahiri, Chemical Sciences Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear
Physics, Kolkata, won the Hevesy Medal
Award 2015, at the Tenth International
Conference on Methods and Applications
of Radio-analytical Chemistry for his outstanding contributions to heavy ion induced radioisotope production, tracer
packet technique, converter targets, and
green chemistry.
The other person to also win the award this
year is Professor Kattesh V. Katti of the
Cedntre for Radiological Research, University of Missouri, Columia.
This premier international award named
after George de HEVESY, the 1943- Chem-
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istry Nobel Laureate, is given to an individual in recognition of excellence through
outstanding, sustained career achievements in the fields of pure as well as applied nuclear and radiochemistry, in particular applications to nuclear analytical
chemistry.
UP Government to
Honours Gopal Das Neeraj
Uttar Pradesh government has conferred
its Sahitya Shiromani Samman and a cash
prize of 21 lakh Rupees upon noted Hindi
poet Gopal Das Neeraj. Along with Gopal
Das Neeraj, veteran Hindi litterateur Uday
Pratap Singh was also conferred with
Sahitya Shiromani award and cash prize of
21 lakh Rupees.
Champions of Change
Award to Satya Nadela
Indian-origin Microsofts CEO Satya
Nadella has been chosen for the
Champions of Change award for bringing
about change within his company to
support working families. US President
Barack Obama will honor this award to
him.
Before being named CEO in February 2014,
47-year-old Nadella held leadership roles
in both enterprise and consumer businesses
across the company. Joining Microsoft in
1992, he quickly became known as a leader
who could span a breadth of technologies
and businesses to transform some of
Microsofts biggest product offerings.
Champions of Change award is given to
those who support working families and
have helped to bring about change within
their companies, communities or
organizations by advocating for
commonsense paid sick and paid leave
policies, equal pay and an end to pregnancy
discrimination to support families,
businesses, and economy.

Bishwaratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika
International Solidarity Award 2015
The second Bishwaratna Dr Bhupen
Hazarika International Solidarity Award
2015 was conferred on internationally
acclaimed filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan in a function held at Rabindra
Bhawan.
The biennial award, instituted by the Asam
Sahitya Sabha and sponsored by the
Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL),
carries a memento, a citation, an eri chador,
a collection of books and a cheque of Rs 5
lakh. The first international solidarity
award instituted in the memory of the
cultural icon had been given to eminent
research scholar and dance exponent
Lubna Marium of Bangladesh.
Sudakshina Sarma, eminent singer and
younger sister of Dr Hazarika, offered her
tributes and captivated the audience with
the song Paneir ponati.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, a multifaceted
personality, has pioneered the film society
movement in Kerala. He is regarded as one
of the finest filmmakers of India. As a film
director, producer and script writer he had
played a major role in revolutionizing
Malayalam cinema. Adoors debut film
was Swayamvaram (1972) which had
pioneered the new wave of cinema
movement in Kerala. For his contribution
to film industry, he has won 16 National
Film Awards, 17 Kerala State Film Awards
and several international film awards.
Adoor is also honoured with Padma Shri
(1984) and the Padma Vibhushan (2006), he
had won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in
2004.
Femina Miss India 2015
Delhi girl Aditi Arya was crowned fbb
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Femina Miss India World 2015 at a

glittering ceremony at Yashraj Studios in
Mumbai. Aditi will represent the country
at Miss World pageant and the runners-up
Afreen and Vartika will compete for
various international titles.
Afreen Racheal Vaz was adjudged first
runner-up while Vartika Singh second
runner up at the grand finale of 52nd year
of fbb Femina Miss India, which took place
on late Saturday night.
About Femina Miss India
Femina Miss India is a national beauty

pageant in India that annually selects three
winners to compete globally. The winner
of Femina Miss India World vies in Miss
World, Femina Miss India Earth winner
competes in Miss Earth, and the third winner, Femina Miss India International goes
to compete in Miss International.
Major Dhyan Chand Life Time
Achievement Award to Balbir Singh Sr
A landmark occasion was witnessed, as
Hockey India conferred the first ever
Annual Awards to recognise the dedication
and hard work of hockey players, coaches
and administrators on the field to build the
sport on the national and international
arena.
Hockey India conferred the awards in the
categories of Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime
Achievement Award to Balbir Singh Sr.
with a cash prize of Rs 30,00,000, the Dhruv
Batra Award for Player of the Year (Men
and Women) awarded to Birendra Lakra
and Vandana Katariya taking home a cash
award of Rs 25,00,000 each. Jaman Lal
Sharma Award for Invaluable Contribution
(for coaches and support staff) awarded to
Harendra Singh wherein he got a cheque
Rs 5,00,000 and Hockey India President
Award for Outstanding Achievement
conferred to One Thousand Hockey Legs
with a Rs 5,00,000 cheque for its exceptional

contribution towards the sport.
Six awards named after players who
represented India in the past included, the
Jugraj Singh Award for Upcoming Player
of the Year (Men Under 21) awarded to
Harmanpreet Singh with a cash prize of Rs
10,00,000, Asunta Lakra Award for
Upcoming Player of the Year (Women
Under 21) to Namita Toppo with Rs
10,00,000. Besides a cash prize of Rs
5,00,000, Baljit Singh Award for Goalkeeper
of the Year awarded to PR Sreejesh, Pargat
Singh Award for Defender of the Year to
Deepika, Ajit Pal Singh Award for
Midfielder of the Year given to Manpreet
Singh and Dhanraj Pillay Award for
Forward of the Year awarded to
Akashdeep Singh for showcasing their
efforts to continue upholding a healthy
sports culture in the nation.
Shashi Kapoor to
Get Dadasaheb Phalke Award
Veteran Film Actor and Producer Shri
Shashi Kapoor has been conferred
Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2014.
He is the 46th Dada Saheb Phalke Award
Winner. The award is conferred by the
Government of India for outstanding
contribution to the growth and
development of Indian Cinema.
The award consists of a Swarn Kamal
(Golden Lotus), a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs
and a shawl. The award is given on the
basis of recommendations of a Committee
of eminent persons set up by the
Government for this purpose.
Shashi Kapoor made his debut as a leading
man in the 1961 film Dharmputra and went
on to appear in more than 100 Hindi films.
He was a very popular actor in Bollywood
during the 60s, 70s and until the mid 80s.
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Shashi Kapoor was one of Indias first
actors to go international. He is known
internationally for starring in many British
and American films, notably Merchant
Ivory Proudctions run by Ismail Merchant
and James Ivory, such as The Householder
(1963), Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Bombay
Talkie (1970) and Heat and Dust (1982). He
also starred in other British and American
films such as Siddhartha (1972) and
Muhafiz (1994).
In 1978, Shri Shashi Kapoor set up his
production house Film Valas which
produced critically acclaimed films such as
Junoon (1978), Kalyug (1981), 36
Chowringhee Lane (1981), Vijeta (1982) and
Utsav (1984).
In 2011, Shri Shashi Kapoor was honoured
with Padma Bhushan Award by the
Government of India. He is also a recipient
of three National Film Awards.
ISRO names for
Gandhi Peace Prize 2014
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
has been selected for the Gandhi Peace
Prize for 2014 for its contribution to the
countrys development through space
technology and satellite-based services.
The award, comprising Rs.one crore and a
citation, was decided after the jury for the
prize met under the chairmanship of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu, Leader of
the single largest Opposition Party in Lok
Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Member
of Parliament L.K. Advani and
Gopalkrishna Gandhi are other members
of the jury.
The Gandhi Peace Prize for social,
economic and political transformation
through non-violence was instituted in
1995.
Previous winners
Some of its previous winners are Nelson

Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Julius K Nyerere,
Baba Amte, Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Bharatiya
Vidya Bhawan and Ramkrishna Mission.
Akhil Sharmas Novel Family Life Wins
Folio Prize 2015
Indian-American novelist Akhil Sharmas
novel Family Life has won the prestigious
Folio Prize 2015. His novel was among the
eight shortlisted books from 80 fictional
works and was chosen as the best fiction
novel published in the United Kingdom in
2014. Family Life is Sharmas second novel
and took him 13 years to write.
The Folio Prize 2015, worth 40,000, aims
to recognise and celebrate the best Englishlanguage fiction from around the world,
published in the UK during a given year,
regardless of form, genre or the authors
country of origin. It is the first major
English-language book prize open to
writers from all over the world.
Bangladesh Wins
Women in Parliament Award
Bangladesh has won the prestigious
Women in Parliaments (WIP) Global
Forum Award for regional leadership in
reducing gender gap in politics.
Bangladesh won the award for its
outstanding success in closing the gender
gap in the political sphere in the regional
category South and Southeast Asia.
On behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md.
Shahriar Alam received the award today
at the Headquarters of African Union in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a foreign ministry
press said here this afternoon.
The World Economic Forum study reveals
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that Bangladesh is one of the top 10

countries in the world in reducing gender
gaps and this leads the country to win the
prestigious WIP Global Forum Award for
regional leadership in closing the gender
gap in politics.
Based on the rankings of the World
Economic Forums Global Gender Gap
Report, WIP Awards were presented at
the WIP Summit 2015 to those countries
which were recognized for their political
empowerment of women, and to countries
which showed regional leadership in
closing the gender gap in politics.
National Kavi
Pradeep Samman Award
Noted Hindi poet Gopaldas Neeraj has
received the first National Kavi Pradeep
Samman at a function held here.
The award has been instituted by the
Madhya Pradesh government in the
memory of Kavi Pradeep, the renowned
poet and songwriter who is best known for
his patriotic song Aye Mere Watan Ke
Logo written as a tribute to the soldiers
who had died defending the country
during the Sino-Indian War.
62ndNational Film Awards 2014
The 62nd National Film Awards 2014 has been
announced by the Chairpersons of the three juries
on Feature Films, Non Feature Films and Best
Writing on Cinema. The awards in the various
categories are as follows:
Best Actor- Vijay for Nanu Avanalla Avalu
(Kannada).
Best Actress- Kangana Ranaut for Queen
(Hindi).
Best Direction-Srijit Mukherji, Director of
Chotushkone (Bengali).
Best Film on Social Issues- Chotoder Chobi
(Bengali) directed by Kaushik Ganguly.
Best Supporting Actor- Bobby Simhaa for

film Jigarthanda (Tamil).
Best Supporting Actress- Baljinder Kaur for
film Pagdi The Honour (Haryanavi).
Best Childrens Film- Kaakkaa Muttai
(Tamil) and Elizabeth Ekadashi (Marathi).
Best Child Artist- Vignesh & Ramesh for
Kaakkaa Muttai (Tamil). Special Jury
Award- Bhaurao Karhade, Director of
Khwada (Marathi).
Best Cinematography- Sudeep Chatterjee
for film Chotushkone (Bengali).
Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film
of a Director- Aditya Vikram Sengupta for
Asha Jaoar Majhe (Bengali).
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film
on National Integration Chotoder Chobi
(Bengali) directed by Kaushik Ganguly.
Best Writing on Cinema- Silent Cinema:
(1895-1930) authored by Pasupuleti
Purnachandra Rao.
Tyler Prize 2015
The Tyler Prize for Environmental
Achievement Executive Committee named
the Honorable Jane Lubchenco, PhD, of
Oregon State University, and Madhav
Gadgil, PhD, of Goa University, as the
recipients of the 2015 Tyler Prize for their
leadership and engagement in the
development of conservation and
sustainability policies in the United States,
India and internationally.
Since its inception in 1973 as one of the
worlds first international environmental
awards, the Tyler Prize has been the
premier award for environmental science,
environmental health and energy.
As the winners of the Tyler Prize,
Lubchenco and Gadgil will share the
$200,000 cash prize and each receive a gold
medallion. The Prize, awarded by the
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international Tyler Prize Executive
Committee with the administrative
support of the University of Southern
California, honors exceptional foresight
and dedication in the environmental
sciences and policyqualities that mirror
the prescience of the Prizes founders, John
and Alice Tyler, who established it while
the environmental debate was still in its
infancy.
Previous laureates include Edward O.
Wilson, Jane Goodall, Jared Diamond and
Paul and Anne Ehrlich, M.S. Swaminathan
andThomas Lovejoy.
Wisdom Cricket Almanack 2015
Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara has
been named as the Leading Cricketer in the
World in the 2015 Wisden Cricketers
Almanack. Meanwhile Australias Meg
Lanning has been chosen as their inaugural
Leading Woman Cricketer in the World
the first time the England-based annual has
bestowed such an award in 152 editions of
continuous publication dating back to 1864.
Sangakkara joined Indias Virender
Sehwag as the only two players to be
named as Wisdens Leading Cricketer in
the World for a second occasion.
The 37-year-old left-handed batsman and
wicketkeeper won the award after a stellar
2014 that saw Sangakkara score an all-time
record 2,868 international runs in the
calendar year, including a triple century.
His feats, which added to an already
brilliant career, included a man-of-thematch performance in Sri Lankas T20 WC
final win over India last year.
Wisdens Five Cricketers of the Year is an
award dating back to 1889 and is generally
based on a players performances in the
preceding English season.
By tradition, it can only be won once in a
career and the 2015 list included Sri Lanka

captain Angelo Mathews, England rising
stars Moeen Ali and Gary Ballance and two
notable county players in Adam Lyth and
Jeetan Patel.
Veerappa Moily selected for Saraswati
Samman 2014
Former Union law Minsiter and INC senior
leader Veerappa Mioly has selected for the prestigious
Saraswati Samman for 2014 for his famous Kannada
poem Ramayana Mahanveshanam.
Saraswati Saman is given by the K K Birla
Foundation since 1991 for an outstanding literary
work in any Indian language mentioned in the
Schedule VIII of the Constitution. The award carries
a cash purse of Rs 10 lakh, a citation and a plaque.
Ramayana Mahanveshanam, which divided into
five volume was first published in the year 2007 in
Kannada. This poem has been later translated into
English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil.
This poem basically speaks about the true
principle of the ideal State from a secular and modern
point of view.
Moily is an established writer in Kannada who
has authored four novels, three collections of poetry,
a number of plays and numerous essays. His novels
Kotta and Tembare have been translated to Hindi,
English and many other languages. Moily handled
many ministries in the previous UPA regime
including Petroleum and Natural Gas, Corporate
Affairs, Power and Law. He was chief minister of
Karnataka from 1992 to 1994.
The selection for the award was made by a 13member panel of scholars and writers headed by
former Chief Justice of India R C Lahoti.
Namibian President bags Mo Ibrahim Prize
2014
Outgoing Namibian President Hifikepunye
Pohamba has won the worlds prestigious award MoIbrahim proze for African leadership for year 2014.
Hifikepunye Pohamba has served as Namibian
President two terms. For first time he was elected in
2004 and again in 2009. Now, he is due to be
succeeded by elected President Hage Geingob.
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This prize is given each year to an elected leader

who has governed well, raised living standards and
then left office. It is named after Mo Ibrahim, a
British-Sudanese mobile communications
entrepreneur and philanthropist who had made
billions of fortune from investing in Africa.
Mo Ibrahim had launched this prize in 2007 to
encourage African leaders to leave power peacefully.
It is the worlds most valuable individual award and
carries monetary award of 5 million dollar and also
$ 200,000 a year for life.
The inaugural prize was awarded to Joaquim
Chissano, former president of Mozambique.
I & B Presents 4th National Photography
Awards
Information and Broadcasting Ministry
Secretary Shri Bimal Julka has conferred the 4th
National Photography Awards to eminent
photographers at a function organized by the Photo
Division, under the aegis of the Ministry of
Information & Broadcasting. Below are the list of
awardee.
Shri Surendra R. Patel was given the Life-Time
Achievement Award, Shri Swarup Dutta was awarded
the Best Professional Photographer Award and Shri
R. Sasikumar was awarded Best Amateur
Photographer. Awards were also conferred to 10
winners under the Special Mention category for both,
the Professional and Amateur segments. The theme
for the Professional Category was Hamara Bharat
Swachh Bharat and for the Amateur Category is
Mother and Child.
Shri Surendra R. Patel, the winner of the Life
Time Achievement Award is an eminent professional
in the field of photography. He has participated in
several national and international exhibitions and
salons from 1951 and has 200 awards to his credit.
He has been honoured with several awards and
felicitations. He is credited for having presented more
than 100 slideshows on Kailash Mansarovar Yatra,
1958 and pictorial photography in different parts of
the country.
Namibian President bags Mo Ibrahim Prize
2014
Outgoing Namibian President Hifikepunye
Pohamba has won the worlds prestigious award MoIbrahim proze for African leadership for year 2014.
Hifikepunye Pohamba has served as Namibian
President two terms. For first time he was elected in
2004 and again in 2009. Now, he is due to be
succeeded by elected President Hage Geingob.
This prize is given each year to an elected leader
who has governed well, raised living standards and
then left office. It is named after Mo Ibrahim, a
British-Sudanese mobile communications
entrepreneur and philanthropist who had made
billions of fortune from investing in Africa. Mo
Ibrahim had launched this prize in 2007 to encourage
African leaders to leave power peacefully. It is the
worlds most valuable individual award and carries
monetary award of 5 million dollar and also $
200,000 a year for life. The inaugural prize was
awarded to Joaquim Chissano, former president of
Mozambique.
Stree Shakti & Nari Shakti Puraskar
President Pranab Mukherjee on the eve of
International Women Day i.e,. 8th March has
awarded Stree Shakti Puraskar and Nari Shakti
Puraskar for the year 2015, to Six illustrious women.
The awardees were nominated by the state
governments, MPs, VIPs as well as on suo-moto basis
which were ten selected by a national level Screening
Committee. Six noted women have been presented
with the award on March 8, 2015. Each award carries
3 lakh rupees and citation.
The Stree Shakti Puraskar has been conferred
to the following noted Indian women:
1. Anyay Rahit Zindagian NGO of Goa has
been conferred with Devi Ahilyabai Holkar
Award
2. Rani Lakshmibai Award has been
presented to Seema Prakash of Madhya
Pradesh
3. Astha Sansthan , NGO of Rajasthan has
been awarded Rani Rudramma Devi
4. Chandraprabha Bokey from Maharashtra
has been conferred Mata Jijabai Award
5. Dr. P Bhanumati of Kerala has been
presented with Kannagi Award
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6. Sister while Mariola from Rajasthan has
been awarded Rani Gaidinliu Zeliang
The Nari Shakti Puraskar has been conferred
for the first time this year. Each award carries a 1
lakh rupees and a citation. The eight women have
been presented with this award by the Ministry of
Women and Child Development, in recognition to
their contribution in specific areas.
Clemson University honours Ratan Tata
with a Doctrate
Indian Businessman Ratan Tata has been
honoured with Doctorate of Automotive Engineering
by the Clemson University. He was presented with
the honorary doctorate for his contribution to the
global automotive industry at the South Carolina
Automotive Summit this week. Ratan Tata holds
bachelors degree in architecture from Cornell
University. In 1962 he had joined the Tata Group. In
1981, he was named chairman of Tata Industries and
led the group in various fields including
transportation, consulting, communications,
chemicals, hospitality and steel.
Ratan Tata serves as director on the boards of
Alcoa Inc., Mondelez International. He is also on
the international advisory boards of, JP Morgan
Chase, Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi Corp., Temasek
Holdings and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
87th Academic Award
The 87th Academy Awards ceremony, presented
by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
(AMPAS) was held at the Dolby Theatre in
Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Academy Awards
which is popularly known as Oscars were presented
in twenty four categories.Below are the list of these
awardee.
Best Picture- Birdman
Best Actor- Eddie Redmayne
Best Actress- Julianne Moore
Best Supporting Actor- J. K. Simmons
Best Supporting Actress- Patricia Arquette
Best Director- Alejandro G. Irritu for
Birdman
Best Original Screenplay- Birdman or (The
Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).

Best Foreign Language Film- Ida (Poland).
Rajendra Singh bags Stockholm Water Prize
Prestigious Stockholm Water Prize 2015 has
been conferred to Renowed enviornmental activist
Rajandra Singh has been for his innovative water
restoration efforts and courage to empower
communities in Indian villages.
Swedens King Carl XVI Gustaf, Patron of the
Stockholm Water Prize, will present the prize during
the World Water Week on August 26. The award
carries $150,000 and a specially designed sculpture.
Stockholm Water Prize was constituted in the
year 1991 to recognizes persons for their outstanding
achievements in conservation and protection of the
worlds water resources and presented annually.
Rajendra Singh is fourth Indian to win the
prestigious global award, others are- Madhav Chitale
in 1993, Sunita Narain in 2005 and Dr. Bindeshwar
Pathak in the year 2009.
National Safety Award (Mines) for year 2011
& 12
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee
has presented the National Safety Awards (Mines)
for the Years 2011 and 2012 at a function organized
by Ministry of Labour & Employment.
For the purpose of the contest the National
Safety Awards (Mines) has been divided into 7
different groups depending upon the type of mineral
and nature of workings.These are - Coal mines Belowground with difficult mining conditions; Coal
mines - Belowground (others); Coal mines
Opencast; Metal Mines - Mechanised Opencast;
Metal Mines Manual Opencast; Metal Mines
Belowground and Oil Mines.
The indicators of safety performance for
determining eligibility of these awards are Longest accident free period (LAFP) in
terms of man shifts worked during three
consecutive years ending with the contest
year.
Lowest injury frequency rate (LIFR)
during three consecutive years ending
with the contest year.
305
Ministry of Labour & Employment,

Government of India instituted National Safety
Awards (Mines) in 1983 (for the contest year 1982)
with a view to promote a competitive spirit amongst
mine operators for the betterment of safety standards
in mines and to give due recognition to outstanding

safety performance at national level. This award is
generally given away by the Honble President of
India every year and has generated considerable
enthusiasm amongst the Mining community.
306
In The News
Aruna Shanbaug
Aruna Shanbaug, a former nurse at Mumbais
King Edward Memorial Hospital who spent the last
42 years on a bed in a vegetative state after a sexual
assault by a ward boy in 1973, died.
Shanbaugs condition had been deteriorating for
the last few years and she had difficulty swallowing
food. The staff was feeding her nutrition powder
through a tube (Ryles tube).
On November 27, 1973, Shanbaug, then a junior
nurse at KEM, was brutally assaulted and raped by a
ward boy-cum-sweeper Sohanlal B. Valmiki. He
throttled her with a dog chain, cutting off the supply
of blood and oxygen to key parts of her brain. She
has been in a vegetative state ever since, confined to
a bed at the hospital where nurses and staff took care
of her. After her death, a controversy erupted when
her family members reached the hospital to claim
the body, which the staff and nurses opposed. Later
in the evening, a compromise was reached and she
was cremated at the Bhoiwada crematorium. Dr. Supe
and her family members collectively performed the
last rites.
Mukesh Khanna
Veteran actor Mukesh Khanna, has been
appointed as the new chairperson of the Children

Film Society of India (CFSI).
CFSI started functioning in 1955 as an
autonomous body under the Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting with Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru
as President. CFSIs maiden production Jaldeep won
the first prize for best Childrens Film at the 1957
Venice Film Festival. Since then CFSI has continued
to produce, exhibit and distribute quality content for
children: from feature films, shorts, animations to
television episodes and documentaries.
KV Thomas
Outgoing chairman of Parliaments Public
Accounts Committee, senior Congress leader K V
Thomas, has been renominated to the post for a
second term. PAC is one of the most important
finance committees along with the Committee on
Estimates and the Committee on Public
Undertakings.
Since 1967, the post of the PAC Chairman has
been held by a senior member of the main Opposition
party. The key committee examines CAG reports
after they are tabled in Parliament.
The PAC, constituted every year, may consist
of not more than 22 members 15 from Lok Sabha
307
and not more than seven members from Rajya Sabha.

Members from Lok Sabha have to be elected to the
panel while the representatives from Rajya Sabha
are nominated. A minister cannot be a member.
Interestingly, the chair of the Committee on
Estimates has always been held by a member of the
ruling party and is currently occupied by BJP veteran
Murli Manohar Joshi. Joshi was the Chairman of
the PAC in the last Lok Sabha.
Ninad Bedekar
Noted historian and orator Ninad Bedekar,
known for his studies on the Maratha king, Shivaji,
and his extensive research on the forts of
Maharashtra, passed away aged 65 at a hospital in
Pune.
Mr. Bedekar, a mechanical engineer by training,
breathed his last on Sunday. According to relatives,
he had been suffering from heart and kidney ailments
for the last couple of years.
A prolific writer in his mother-tongue Marathi,
he is credited with popularising the history of
Maharashtra.In 2003, Mr. Bedekar, along with the
right-wing Shiv Sena, was instrumental in bringing
about the ban on American scholar James Laines
book on Shivaji titled Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic
India . Mr. Bedekar had written to the Oxford
University Press seeking a ban.
Daniel Mookhey
Daniel Mookhey has become first Indian-origin
Member of Parliament (MP) from the Australian state
of New South Wales to be sworn in to Australian
parliament on the Hindu religious text, the
Bhagavadgita.Recently, he was chosen by the
Australian Labour Party to fill the casual vacancy in
the New South Wales upper house. Thus, making him
states first politician of Indian background.
Daniel Mookhey was born in Blacktown suburb
in New South Wales to Indian parents who had
migrated to Australia from Punjab in 1973.
He holds three university degrees and currently
is working as a consultant to unions, charities and
community groups.
Suchitra Bhattacharya
Celebrated writer Suchitra Bhattacharya, many
of whose books had been made into cult Bengali films

including Dahan, passed away. Suchitra penned
over 20 novels, including Dahan, Kachher Manush,
Hemonter Pakhi, Alik Sukh, most turning into
bestsellers in Bengali literature and was popular
among the new generation of women as well as
others. She had received several literary awards.
Harbhajan Kaur Dheer
Harbhajan Kaur Dheer an Indian-origin
councillor woman has became the first Asian woman
elected mayor of Ealing Council in London; she
became the Mayor of Ealing Council after succeeding
councillor Tej Ram Bagha.
Her husband councillor Ranjit Dheer is a former
Mayor of Ealing. Born in Punjab in 1953, Harbhajan
Kaur came to Britain in 1975. She studied Social
Sciences at Kingston University and obtained a
degree in 1995. She worked as an Approved Mental
Health Professional in Surrey County Council until
2003. She has served the borough as a governor of a
number of schools. She is a passionate advocate of
rights of children and elderly including those with
mental health issues.
Priti Patel
Indian-origin Member of Parliament (MP) Priti
Patel was appointed as Minister of State (MoS) for
Employment in the David Cameron led United
Kingdom Government. British Prime Minister David
Cameron has also promoted her to his Cabinet.
As the new Minister of State for Employment
in the Department of Work and Pensions, she will
attend all Cabinet members as the senior-most Indianorigin member. In recently concluded 2015 UK
General election, Priti Patel was re-elected from
Witham constituency in Essex on Conservative Party
ticket. Earlier, she was elected from same
constituency in 2010.
Mhairi Black
Mhairi Black at the age of 20 became the
youngest elected Member of Parliament (MP) in
United Kingdom in over 300 years. She was elected
as MP to House of Commons i.e. lower house of UK
Parliament from Paisley and Renfrewshire South
constituency in Glasgow, Scotland.
308

Mhairi Black represents Scottish Nationalist
Party (SNP). In this general election she defeated
Labour Partys election chief and a former Cabinet
minister Douglas Alexander by over 6000 votes by
gaining total 17864 votes.
Ruth Rendell
Crime writer Ruth Rendell has died aged 85.
She wrote more than 60 novels in a career spanning
50 years, her best-known creation being Inspector
Wexford, which was turned into a highly successful
TV series.
Rendell, one of Britains best-selling
contemporary authors, also wrote under the pen-name
Barbara Vine. Born in Essex, she is credited with
bringing a social and psychological dimension to
crime fiction. Publisher Penguin Random House said
Rendell, who suffered a stroke in January, died in
London on Saturday morning.
Penguin Random House chair, Baroness Gail
Rebuck, said Rendell was admired throughout
publishing for her brilliant body of work. Rendells
first Wexford book, From Doon with Death, was
published in 1964, beginning a series of more than
20 starring Inspector Reginald Wexford, played in
the TV series by George Baker.
Many of her works were translated into more
than 20 languages and adapted for cinema and TV,
attracting worldwide sales of 60 million.
Philip S. Goodman
Philip S. Goodman, a film, television and stage
writer and director, passed away at his residence here.
Goodman, who wrote episodes of the 1950s and
1960s TV shows such as Profiles in Courage,
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Johnny Staccato,
died.
He directed the 1963 feature We Shall Return,
which centered on anti-Castro Cuban fighters in
Miami and starred Cesar Romero. At the Actors
Studio, where he was a member of the Directors
Group, Goodman directed workshops of his plays
Love Is a Candy Cane and This Notoriety
Business.
Goodman wrote and directed television
documentaries and industrial films for many years.
In 1970, he wrote three episodes of National
Educational Televisions Our Vanishing

Wilderness, one of the first series on television to
focus on environmental issues.
Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Plisetskaya, one of the greatest ballerinas
of the 20th century from Russia passed away in
Germany. She was 89. Plisetskaya was born in
Moscow on November 20, 1925. Her ballet career
spanned for more than five decades.
She had joined the Bolshoi, a historic theatre in
Moscow in 1943. Her performances had captivated
audiences around the world. In 1960, she became
the Bolshois prima ballerina. Her modern
choreography and performances were charged with
eroticism flouted Soviet convention. In 1983, she
became one of the first Soviet celebrities allowed to
work for Western dance companies without having
to defect. She was also the artistic director of the
Rome Opera Ballet.
Azhar Ali
Pakistans cricket chiefs named batsman
Azhar Ali as the national sides new OneDay International captain, despite the fact
that he has not made the 50-over team in
more than two years. The 30-year-old
replaces Misbah-ul-Haq, who retired from
ODIs following Pakistans World Cup
quarterfinal exit at the hands of eventual
champion Australia.
Ali has played just 14 ODIs, the most recent
in January 2013, when he contributed two
with the bat as Pakistan beat arch-rival
India by 85 runs at Kolkatas Eden Gardens.
Ali was also named as vice-captain for the
Test side, which Misbah will continue to
lead, while big-hitting all-rounder Shahid
Afridi stays on as T20 skipper.
Dr. Nasim Zaidi
The President has appointed the seniormost Election Commissioner, Dr. Nasim
309
Zaidi as the Chief Election Commissioner

in the Election Commission. Dr. Nasim
Zaidi has assume the charge of office of the
Chief Election Commissioner on 19th April,
2015 vice Shri Harishankar Brahma
consequent upon his demitting the office
of the Chief Election Commissioner on the
18th April, 2015.
Dronavalli Harika
Indian chess Grandmaster Dronavalli
Harika on 6 April 2015 won the bronze
medal in the World Womens chess
championships along with Swedish
Grandmaster Pia Cramling. In the semifinal
match played at Sochi in Russia, Harika lost
to Ukraines Mariya Muzychuk and settled
to Bronze medal with US $ 20,000. World
Womens chess championships winners
are.
Tarique Rahman
The Interpol has issued a red corner notice
for the arrest of Bangladesh Nationalist
Party leader Tarique Rahman, who has
been in exile in London for more than six
years.
The notice was issued for the arrest of
Tarique, senior vice chairman of the party
and son of Khaleda Zia, on the charge of
murder and explosion of hand grenade in
an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004.
The Interpol most wanted list has carried
Tariques picture with details, saying
Bangladesh is seeking him to stand trial in
the case.
Gunter Grass
Gunter Grass, the Nobel-winning German
writer who gave voice to the generation
that came of age during the horrors of the
Nazi era has died. He was 87. Grass was
lauded by Germans for helping to revive
their culture in the aftermath of World War
II and helping to give voice and support to

democratic discourse in the post war
nation.
Yet he provoked the ire of many in 2006
when he revealed in his memoir Skinning
the Onion that, as a teenager, he had
served in the Waffen-SS, the combat arm
of Adolf Hitlers notorious paramilitary
organization.
In 2012, Grass drew sharp criticism at home
and was declared persona non grata by
Israel after publishing a prose poem, What
Must Be Said, in which he criticized what
he described as Western hypocrisy over
Israels nuclear program and labelled the
country a threat to already fragile world
peace over its belligerent stance on Iran.
Shamina Singh
President Barack Obama has nominated
Shamina Singh, an Indian American as a
member of the Board of Directors of the
Corporation for National and Community
Service for a term expiring in Oct. 2019.
Singh currently serves as the Executive
Director of the MasterCard Center for
Inclusive Growth. She joined MasterCard
in 2013 as the Global Director for
Government Services and Solutions, where
she expanded MasterCards business
capabilities to digitize social subsidy
programs in over 40 countries, according
to the World Economic Forum.
Prior to joining MasterCard, she has also
spent 15 years in the public sector holding
senior positions within the Clinton
Presidential Administration and the U.S.
House of Representatives. Singh was
executive director for the Presidents
Advisory Commission on Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders and the White House
Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders from 1999 to 2001.
310

Baba Ramdev
The BJP government in Haryana has
decided to accord the rank, equal to that of
a cabinet minister, to yoga guru Ramdev;
he had earlier been named as the states
brand ambassador with the government
then explaining his elevation as an attempt
to promote yoga and ayurveda in the state.
Yuki Bhambri
Yuki Bhambri clinched the ITF Futures
tournament with a straight-set win over
Dzmitry Zhyrmont and ensured his berth
in the French Open qualifying event. The
22-year-old player, seeded second,
overcame his Belarusian third seed rival 62 6-4 in the final and pocketed 27 ranking
points which will take him to a rank
between 215 and 220.
Malala Yousafzai
NASA has reportedly named an asteroid
in honour of 17-year-old Nobel Peace Prize
winner Malala Yousafzai. The asteroid, located in the main belt between Mars and
Jupiter, was discovered by Dr Amy
Mainzer, an astronomer at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, USA.
Dr. Mohan Kumar
Union Governmnet has appointed Dr.
Mohan Singh Indian Foreign Officer of 1981
batch as the next Ambassador of India to
France. Presently Mohan Kumar is
Ambassador of India to Bahrain.
Meenakshi Madan Rai
Mrs. Meenakshi Madan Rai was sworn in
as the first lady judge of the Sikkim High
Court. Governor of Sikkim Srinivas Patil
administered the oath of office to her at Raj
Bhavan in Gangtok. After taking oath of
office, she took charge as judge. With this
Sikkim High Court again got its full

strength of three judges after a gap of about
one year
Bidyut Chakraborty
Well-known Assamese filmmaker Bidyut
Chakraborty, who had bagged the Indira
Gandhi award for Best First Film of a
Director in 1996 for his film Rag-Birag,
passed away in a private hospital. He was
55.
Surya Bahadur Thapa
Former Nepal Prime Minister Surya
Bahadur Thapa passed away. Thapa served
as Prime Minister of Nepal for five terms,
under three different Kings, in a politcal
career spanning more than 50 years.
Mr. Thapa started his political career by
executing underground student
movement in 1950. In 1958, he was elected
to the Assembly and became Chairman of
the Advisory Council. In 1959, he was
elected to the Upper House.
In 1966, he was appointed Prime Minister
under the modified constitution of Nepal.
He was responsible for expanding the
coverage of the Constitution of 1962 and
promulgated 2nd amendment to make it
people-oriented.
Stanislav Gross
Stanislav Gross, former and youngest
Prime Minister of Czech Republic has
passed away at the age of 45. Gross became
premier at the age of 34 in July 2004 and
took over as chairman of the leftist Social
Democrats. But his career at the top of
politics was brief.
D Jayakanthan
Legendary Tamil writer D Jayakanthan,
who charted a new course in Tamil
311
literature with his bold and progressive

works, has passed away. He has written
around 40 novels and 200 short stories and
used his pen effectively against social
injustices and economic inequality.
His popular novel, Sila Nerangalil Sila
Manithargal, which was later made into a
film, won him the Sahitya Akademi Award
in 1972. He was also a recipient of the
Jnanpith Award in 2002.
EM Hanifa
Renowned Tamil Muslim devotional singer
EM Hanifa passed away in Chennai, Tamil
Nadu. He was well-known for his number
of devotional songs and was a leading
propagandist of Dravida Munnettra
Kazhagam (DMK) Party for more than five
decades.
Neeraj Kumar
Former Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj
Kumar was appointed as chief adviser of
the Board of Control for Cricket in Indias
(BCCI) Anti-Corruption & Security Unit
(ACSU). Decision in this regard was taken
at the Governing Council Meeting of the
Indian Premier League (IPL) chaired by IPL
chairman Rajeev Shukla in New Delhi,. He
will succeed Ravi Sawant as his term ended
and will have term of one year.
Venkadarath Saritha
Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has
appointed a 30-year-old woman
Venkadarath Saritha from Telangana as its
first female driver. The driver,
Venkadarath Saritha, will be on day-time
duty on regular routes in Central Delhi.
Ms. Saritha, who moved from Hyderabad
to New Delhi four years ago, was selected
from among seven women candidates who
had applied for the post in response to a
DTC advertisement. After completion of

formalities, she attended a four-week training programme at the DTC training school.
Ashish Jakhar
Haryanas Ashish Jakhar set a national
youth record in boys hammer throw on the
second day of the 12th National Youth Athletics Championships held in Goa.
Ashish hurled the 5kg ball-and-chain to a
new distance of 71.92m on his opening
throw and went on to improve it further to
72.04m to stamp his class with fine rotations on the circle to set the first national
record of the meet.
The previous national record had stood in
the name of Haryanas Sukhdev Singh
(70.35m) since 2009. Only Chinese thrower
Xu Wenjie has a better mark than Ashish
in the Asian rankings, with a 72.35m throw,
so far this season.
Vivek Priyadarshi
The apex court of India has appointed CBI
officer Vivek Priyadarshi to head a new
investigating team to further probe the IPL6 spot-fixing and betting scandal.
Priyadarshi, currently a superintendent of
police in the anti-corruption cell of the
agency, will replace 1983-batch AssamMeghalaya cadre IPS officer BB Mishra as
the head of the probe team following his
retirement.
Jamal Benomar
United Nation (UN) peace envoy to Yemen,
Jamal Benomar has resigned, after losing
support from Gulf countries for his mission
in the conflict-riven nation. His resignation
comes after UN Security Council adopted
a resolution calling for the swift resumption of peace talks and an end to violence
in Yemen on 14 April 2015. The adopted
resolution adopted calls on the Huthis to
withdraw from Sanaa and all other areas
they have seized.
312

Surinder Pal Singh Cheema
Vice Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema
took over the reins of the Western Naval
Command as flag officer commanding-inchief from Vice Admiral Anil Chopra at a
ceremonial parade held at INS Shikra.
Cheema, while serving in Mumbai earlier,
had commanded INS Nishank, INS Trishul
and INS Virat, a Naval release said, adding Chopra was accorded a send off.
Lee Kuan Yew
First Prime Minister (PM) of Singapore Lee
Kuan Yew passed away on 23 March 2015.
He was 91. Mr. Lee is described as the
founding father and architect of modern
Singapore. He is also considered as pioneer
for transforming the island country from a
small port city into a wealthy global hub
after its independence from United
Kingdom and separation from Malaysia.
KM Mani
Kerala finance minister KM Mani has been
appointed chairman of the empowered
committee of state finance ministers on
Goods & Services Tax (GST). The GST, a
much-awaited reform to replace multiple
indirect taxes with one levy, is proposed
to be rolled out from April 2016.
Poonam Mahajan
For the first time since it came into existence
in 1950, BFI got a woman as its president
when Poonam Mahajan was unanimously
elected as the head of this 65 year old
federation the governing and controlling
body of basketball in India here today.
At the Annual General Meeting of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), president
of Maharashtra State Basketball Association (MSBA), who is also the BJP national
secretary and MP from the Mumbai NorthCentral Lok Sabha constituency, Poonam
was unanimously elected as the new presi-
dent of BFI for a four-year (2015-2019) term.

The 34-year-old Poonam is the youngest
president of any national federation in India.
Malli Mastan Babu
Indian Mountaineer Malli Mastan Babu
was an accomplished Indian mountaineer
who held number of records and achievements. He had achieved the feat of becoming the fastest seven mountaineers in the
world. He was also the first Indian to summit Mt Vinson Massif the tallest peak in
Antarctica. He was the first person from
Andhra Pradesh to scale Mount Everest.
Meira Kumar
Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumars
book entitled Indian Parliamentary
Diplomacy Speakers Perspective has
been recenlty released by the present Lok
Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.
The book features an account of the
parliamentary diplomacy and its role in
furthering foreign policy and strengthening
international relations.
Meira Kumar was the first unopposed
elected woman Speaker of Lok Sabha and
served from 2009 to 2014. Kumar was also
5 time Member of Parliament and was
elected to 8th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th Lok
Sabha.
Venkatraman to head Royal Society of UK
India-born Nobel laureate Sir Venkatraman
Ramakrishnan has been confirmed as
president elect of Britains prestigious
Royal Society.
Dr. Ramakrishnan is the first India-born
scientist to be elected President of the Royal
Society. Dr. Ramakrishnan will take over
his new appointment on December 1, 2015,
replacing the eminent geneticist Sir Paul
Nurse.
313
Earlier in the year 2009 he won Nobel Prize

in Chemistry for his work on the structure
and function of the ribosome, the molecular
machine that synthesises proteins inside
cell; and on the action of antibiotics on the
process.
The Royal Society is a self-governing
fellowship of many of the worlds most
distinguished scientists drawn from all
areas of science, engineering, and medicine,
set up to support excellence in science, and
to encourage its use for the benefit of
humanity.
Yusuf kechery
Veteren Malyalam poet Yusuf Kechery,
recently died at private hospital. He left a
deep impression in Keralas cultural realm
as a lyricist.
Kechery known for his mystic lyrics on
Hindu Gods, particularly Lord Krishna.
He dominated Malayalam films along with
ONV and P Bhaskaran as a top-notch
lyricist, had written hundreds of songs
known for their mystic and romantic charm
with the semi-classical touch.
His lyrics in Dhwani, composed by
renowned musician Naushad Ali, are
considered as one among the best works
of him.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become first
Indian Cricket team Captain to register the
100 One Day International (ODI) match
wins. This acievement came after indian
team defeated bangladesh in the 2015 ICC
World Cup quarter final matchby 108 run
in Asutralia.
He is the only third captain in the history
of cricket world who got this title, prior to
Dhoni the other two cpatain who achieve
this feat are Allan Border (107) and Rickey
Ponting (165) both from Australia.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni assumes Indian
captancy in the year 2007 after Rahul
Dravid Put off this. Since then under his
captaincy, Indian Cricket team has won
2007 World Twenty20, CB Series of 200708, Asia Cup 2010, ICC Cricket World Cup
2011, Champions Trophy 2013.
It is important to note here that former
Indian Captain Mohammad Azharuddin
had recorded 90 wins in ODIs, followed by
Sourav Ganguly with 76 wins.
Katharine Viner
Katharine Viner has been appointed the
editor-in-chief of the Guardian. She became
the first woman to run the newspaper in
its 194-year history. Viner will become only
the 12th editor since the paper was founded
in May 1821.
Viner, currently deputy editor of the
Guardian and editor-in-chief of Guardian
US, will take up the role in the summer
from incumbent Alan Rusbridger, who is
to stand down after 20 years.
Viner joined the Guardian in 1997 and has
been a deputy editor of the title as well as
editing the Saturday edition of the
newspaper from 2008 until 2012. She has
held a wide range of roles including editor
of G2, deputy womens editor, and editor
of Weekend magazine.
Sohail Aman
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has
appointed Air Marshal Sohail Aman as
new air chief, after promoting him to the
rank of air chief marshal.
Earlier, outgoing Chief of the Air Staff, Air
Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt called on
PM Nawaz in Islamabad. The premier
lauded the services of the outgoing chief
of air staff for national defense and the role
314

of PAF in the ongoing war against
terrorism.
Air Marshal Sohail Aman, who is an
accomplished fighter pilot, was
commissioned in the GD (P) Branch of
Pakistan Air Force in November,1980.
During his remarkable career in PAF, he
has flown various fighter and training
aircrafts in PAFs inventory.
Aman remained on various important staff
appointments
including
director
operations, director plans and assistant
chief of the air staff (operations) at Air
Headquarters, in addition to air officer
commanding, central air command and
deputy chief of the air staff (training).
Kavinder Gupta
Jammu & Kashmir Lagislative Assembly
has unanimously elected BJP MLA
Kavinder Gupta Speaker of the 12th Assembly.
Basharat Bukhari, Minister of Law and
Parliamentry Affairs moved the motion in
the Assembly seeking his election to the
post.
kavinder Gupta, an MLA from
Gandhinagar constituency in Jammu district, was elected with voice vote with no
one vote against the motion. Mr. Gupta replaces the Protem Speaker Muhammad
Shafi of the regional National Conference.
Narayan Desai
Vetrent Gandhian of our country Narayan
Desai, who known for his rendition of
Gandhi Katha stories on the Mahatmas
life passed away at a private hospital in
Surat.
He is son of Mahatma Gandhis personal
secretary and biographer Mahadev Desai.
In 2004, Desai started a lecture series on
Gandhi called Gandhi Katha, which he
took across the world and received much
acclaim for it.
Desai served as the Chancellor of Gujarat

Vidyapith from July 23, 2007 to November
2014 .
Desai has won several award for his work
which include the Sahitya Akademi Award
for Gujarati in 1993 and the Jamnalal Bajaj
Award in 1999 and the UNESCOMadanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion
of Tolerance and Non-Violence in 1998. He
was also associated with anti-nuclear activism.
Marry Kom
Union Government has selected five time
worlds Boxing Champion and Olympic
medallist boxer M.C. Mary Kom as the
brand ambassador for north-east India to
promote the region in the rest of the country and abroad.
It was announced by Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region
(DoNER) Jitendra Singh while adressing
the 10th North East Business Summit in
New Delhi. MC Mary Kom was selected to
showcase the potential of the North East
region which can offer Rs. 2.4 trillion business opportunities across various sectors.
Mary, 32, who hails from Manipur is only
woman boxer to have won a medal in each
of the six world championships. She recently announced in Imphal that she would
quit the sport after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year.
The cultural tradition of Manipur is sportsoriented and the state, as a result, has produced many athletes. Mary Kom cemented
the north-eastern states position as a powerhouse of talent with her 2012 Olympic
bronze. Winning medals in many international and national meets, the Hindi film
industry made a movie based on her life,
starring actor Priyanka Chopra.
Sir Terry Pratchett
Sir Terry Pratchett creator of the Discov-
315
ered series and author of more thatn 70

novels has recently passed away in London.
In his 44 years long career, Pratchett had
written more than 70 books which were
translated in 37 languages. His debut novel,
The Carpet People was published in 1971
and his first Discworld novel, The Colour
of Magic was published in 1983.
Pratchett has sold more than 85 million
books worldwide was the UKs best-selling author of the 1990s and later surpassed
by Harry Potter author J K Rowling.
He has won several award for his distinguish work which includes Knighted by the
Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 for his services
to literature and in year 2010, he was
awarded the World Fantasy Award for Life
Achievement.
In the year 1998 he was appointed as officer of Order of the British Empire (OBE).
Vinod Mehta
Senior journalist and Outlook Groups
editorial chairman Vinod Mehta passed
away at the AIIMS in New Delhi on
Sunday.
He had worked with several publications

including Debonair, Sunday Observer,
Pioneer and Indian Post.
Born in Rawalpindi, Mehta has authored a
biography of Meena Kumari and Sanjay
Gandhi. His much-talked-about memoir,
Lucknow Boy, was published in 2011.
He was conferred with Yash Bharti
Samman (2015) by Uttar Pradesh government.
Ram Sunder Das
Former Bihar Chief Minister and senior
JD(U) leader Ram Sundar Das has died, he
was 95. He was chief minister of Bihar as
the head of the Janata Party government in
1979.
Earlier in the Lok Sabha election of 2009,
he has defeated Ram Vilas Oaswan in the
Hajipur, but in the parliamentary polls last
year, had lost to the latter.
Present Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, announced two days of state mourning as a
mark of respect for the senior JD(U) leader.
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